Read between the lines
by emerald.swan
Summary: "So why do you do it?Are you just naturally vicious?"she asked and glared at him ,waiting for an answer."No, it is not because of that.."Sometimes you have to read between the lines.My first multi-chapter story!Rated T just in case.R&R
1. Chapter 1

**So here we go, first chapter of my first multi-chapter story .I know that this is quite short but hopefully the next chapters will be longer.****Read on and I guess I will see you at the bottom! (Which as you can see is not that far away!)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

Snape had already entered the classroom and started yelling to Neville Longbottom for repeatedly bringing his toad along with him in class

"How many times do I have to say it Longbottom? Your so called pet has absolutely no business being in my classroom! I don't care whether it helps you concentrate, if that is even possible! Take it back to your common room immediately and 10 points will be removed from Gryffindor because of your stupidity!"

when the door cracked open to reveal a female Gryffindor with slightly messy hair and a red-flashed face, it was obvious that she had been running.

"How nice of you to join us Miss Granger!" said Snape, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Ten points from Gryffindor and detention in my office at 8'o clock" he barked while an embarrassed looking Hermione made her way past Neville and took her seat next to Harry and Ron murmuring apologies.

She had never been late to class nor had she received detention so she herself was in a state of shock. As soon as Snape started talking about the negative effects of the sleeping potion she noticed that her two best friends were staring at her probably waiting for the explanation why Hermione Jane Granger had just been late for class. Harry was the first to talk.

"What happened? Getting detention is not like you, Mione!"

"It is not a big deal Harry. I just lost truck of time in the library." she replied, her breath still unstable from running.

That is when she heard a chuckle coming from behind her. She turned around to face Malfoy and his arrogant smirk.

"Really, Granger? You were late because you lost track of time in the library?" he asked, mock filling his voice. "You are the only one that can make getting detention seem dull" he commented and his posy of Slytherins started laughing.

"Oh, shut up Malfoy!" responded Hermione obviously annoyed.

"Look at that,the bookworm is getting defensive!"

Hermione was seriously thinking of hexing him when she heard Ron.

"Let it go Hermione, he is not worth it! And you already have detention, don't push it!"

"Since when did Ron become the reasonable one? The world was going crazy!"

With these thoughts Hermione forced a fake smile towards Malfoy in order to avoid Snape's suspicious glances and turned her head to face the board which was now filled with complicated steps and numbers that were supposed to make the preparation of the potion easier. She took out a quill and started writing, though still being able to hear Malfoys's mean comments concerning her ,and the sound of laughter coming from the Slytherins and especially Pansy Parkinson who didn't seem to be able to keep her annoying voice down.

Hermione left running as soon as Snape dismissed them and headed to the girls bathroom where she slid down to the floor.

"Why does Malfoy always has to be so mean to me?" she questioned herself and finally left the tears come out.

**I guess that's it for chapter one! Constructive criticism is more than welcome! I am quite new to the fan fiction world and I know that I have probably made some mistakes so don't hesitate to point them out to me!(no flames though) **

**REVIEW! And let me know what you think .Pretty please.…**


	2. Chapter 2

**Extremely short, I know, but I had to stop it where I did. I do have the next chapter almost finished though! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, I really don't**.

It is not like she had done anything to make Malfoy hate her. She was a muggle-born and she was aware of his opinion about them. Yet, he only appeared to be interested in annoying her in particular, even though there were a lot more muggle-borns studying at Hogwarts .True, Hermione had seen him bullying them before but no one as much as her. Why her?

"There must be a reason..." she murmured to herself.

That was when she heard someone calling her name. It was Parvati who interrupted her thoughts when she entered the bathroom.

"What's wrong?" she asked when she noticed Hermione on the floor.

"Nothing., I guess the stress of the upcoming exams is getting to me" she lied. Parvati seemed to believe her,and nodded.

"Tell me about it! That is all I can think about and it is only January!" she said "Anyway, we should get going! Dinner is in ten minutes and you seem like you could use some food down your system."

Her face was concerned. She held the door for Hermione, who just nodded and made her way to the Great Halll next to her friend, whipping the last tears off of her eyes.

The atmosphere at the Gryffindor table was calm during dinner. Harry and Ron were talking about Quidditch (Ron more listening since his mouth was always full), along with Seamus and Neville, Lavender and Parvati were exchanging beauty tips and Hermione was reading a huge book called "Transfiguration and how to master it" with great concentration, while taking a bite every now and then. She was so focused on the book that she didn't notice a certain blonde Slytherin, staring at her from across the Great Hall.

After twenty minutes or so she glanced at her clock and realized that it was a quarter to eight, so if she wanted to leave her bag at the Gryffindor common room before detention she needed to hurry up. She said a quick goodbye to her fellow classmates and ran towards the fat lady's portrait. After leaving her bag, she hurried to the dungeons, where Snape's office was. She was almost there, when she bumped onto Malfoy.

"Watch it Mudblood!" he sneered but Hermione had no time for this. Ignoring the insult, she pushed him out of the way while murmuring:

"Stupid ferret..."

She thought she had heard him chuckle before she went past him and continued running towards Snape's office, making it just in time.

**So, there you have it. Please let me know what you think!**

**REVIEW!**


	3. Chapter 3

**This chapter is longer than the previous ones, yay!:DThere are some thoughts mixed with the dialoges but i don't think that it is confusing. If it is , i apologise.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, i wish i did.**

"Hello Miss. Granger." said Snape "Since you were too busy to join the class this evening, you will now be cleaning these potion cauldrons, no magic allowed of course." He smirked. Was it just her imagination or did all the Slytherins have a trademark smirk? One that definitely had one came to mind. Damn him!

Snape had now started talking again, indicating the caldrons which were nothing but disgusting. Hermione had seen this coming. Professor Snape was known for coming up with the less pleasant detention chores for his students, so she had brought protective gloves along with her.

The next couple of hours went by slowly for Hermione, with Snape commenting on her cleaning skills every few minutes. By the end of detention she had finished cleaning twelve caldrons and her hands were aching from the rubbing. Eventually, he had to let her go, since it was pretty late and way past the student's curfew.

Hermione's nerves were not in a good condition and all she wanted was to go to bed but was not nearly as lucky. Moments after she had excited the Potions Professor's office, she came face to face with, who else, the Slytherin prince himself. Malfoy appeared to be somewhat amused.

"Had fun in detention Granger?" he asked in a mocking voice.

"Back off, Malfoy .That is none of your business." "Why are you here anyway? It is past curfew." replied Hermione.

She was really tired and really not in the mood for an argument with him but he seemed to think different.

"Oh, come on Granger! As a little know-it-all that you are, you should know that the Slytherin common room is in the dungeons, so I was obviously heading there before I came across your ever so annoying face!" he said , his eyes glittering, he loved a good fight. It was on.

"Jerk"

"Nerd"

"Pratt!"

"Potter's puppy!"

"Take that back! I am not anyone's puppy!" he was so irritating!

"It doesn't seem like it." He kept on calm.

"Well, I am not!" she replied, a little louder that necessary. His expression changed to one of thinking for a split second.

"I should hope so" his voice calm again, serious.

"Excuse me?" she was confused. What was up with him?

"Nothing." he continued like the argument had never stopped. "Just go run behind Potter and Weasley and do their homework, or something. It is what you do best after all!" his voice dripping with venom.

"Harry and Ron are my friends, you wouldn't know anything about that of course!" she yelled at his face.

"You don't know a thing about me!" he snapped. Who did she think she is anyway?

"I know all I need or want to know on that matter!" Lies, Hermione, and you know it.

"Fine!" he yelled.

"Fine!" she yelled even louder.

She gave him a piercing glare and turned her back at him, continuing her way. She had not even entered the common room when Ron ran up to her. She tried to make the thoughts about a certain blonde Slytherin disappeare and focused on what her friend was saying.

"Hermione, here you are!" he was grinning. There, someone who wouldn't make her mad or sad. "I need your help with something!"

"Sure" she said eagerly "What is it?"

"Can you do my Charms assignment for me? I just can't do it!"

Hermione sighed, of course, she thought. That it what she does best. Malfoy's words ringing inside her head.

"Ron! You need to do it yourself!" she complained

"Oh, come on Hermione! Pretty please!" he pleaded with puppy dog eyes but Hermione was not falling for that.

"No, Ron! I have already done three of your assignments these past two weeks all by myself!"

"It is not like you need help!"

"The fact that I don't need it, doesn't mean that I don't want it!" Ron looked confused for a second before going on pleading.

"Come on, Hermione…"

"Why should I do it?" she asked, her hands folded in frond of her chest.

"Because I am your friend!" he replied as if it was extremely obvious.

"That only works once a week and you already used it this Tuesday."

"Why can't you just do it?" he was now irritated on top of it all. "You always do my homework!" This was just ridiculous. "It is what you do best!" Oh, he didn't!

The words hurt, as if someone had just stabbed her. It was the second time she had heard that phrase in the past two hours and this time it was coming from one of the people she would have never thought that would actually say it in her face. Malfoy was right. Wow! The words "right" and "Malfoy" in the same sentence were just wrong. This needed to stop.

"What did you just say?" she demanded her voice threatening and her hand twitching towards her wand.

Ron took a few steps back but his expression did not change much.

"You know what I mean…." he tried to defend himself, no use. Hermione hated it when people saw her as an open encyclopedia and not as a person and he knew it. He was screwed.

"No, I don't! Enlighten me!" she yelled.

"I just…you know…." he stammered.

"No, I most certainly do not Ronald!" Full names, this was bad. "The only thing I know is that I am done doing chores, for you or anyone else! I have better things to do!"

Ron's face flushed red once again "Like what? Read more books?" he yelled. "Excuse me for not realizing how interesting your life is!" he really did have anger management issues.

"Stop it now Weasley, before it is too late!" she yelled.

"You stop it!" he yelled back "Mudblood!" as soon as the word left his mouth he regretted it. He looked towards Hermione's direction but she was already at the girl dormitories room slamming the door shut.

It was too late.

**Wow, a lot of fighting!The scene with Ron was not meant to go that far but i just couldn't help it!:p**

**Please, let me know what you think!**

**REVIEW!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello there! So, i tried to get this chapter up on Friday but my computer wouldn't cooperate, i do believe that i was relatively quick this time:) For my standards at least. Harry was nowhere to be seen in the previous chapter, but he is in this one .On with the story.**

**Disclaimer:I don't own Harry Potter.**

Hermione woke up the following morning feeling extremely tired. She had spent a big part of the previous night crying and she was exhausted. Parvati and Lavender had entered the room about twenty minutes later than she had, and had witnessed her crying her eyes out. They didn't ask anything on that matter though, probably aware of the incident that had taken place in the common room that evening. They could have heard, or Ron might have told them. Wait, he was not Ron anymore, Weasley would be more like it. What mattered was that she was not disturbed by unnecessary questions , the two girls had just looked at her with sympathy, got her some extra tissues and let her let it all out, which was good.

Most of the sadness was now gone and was replaced with anger and confusion. How could he have possibly said that? He was one of her best friends after all! She was not going to let it go just like that. She allowed these thoughts to wonder inside her head , while she was getting ready for the day and followed Lavender and Parvati outside ,not even bothering to glance up to the boy's dormitories.

Her friends seemed more eager to start a conversation that morning so she got ready to participate in a discussion, trying not to let the emotions overwhelm her.

"So…" started Lavender "Are you feeling better?"

"Yes" nodded Hermione. Better was definitely a good choice of a word, she was not feeling good, just better.

"We learned what happened..." continued Parvati, her voice hesitant. "Here we go..." thought Hermione and sighed.

"I suppose everyone will, it is just a matter of time. How did you got to know?" she asked, trying to sound care free.

"We heard Harry…It was pretty difficult not to really…" Lavender chuckled slightly at this point. "I am surprised that you didn't!"

"He was quite loud..." agreed Parvati.

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione slightly confused.

" Well, he got back from Dumbledore's office a few minutes before we came up to the girl's dormitories and once Ron explained to him what had happened , he went ballistic! At a point I thought that he was going to throw a book straight at Ron's head! He seemed quite capable of doing so…" explained Parvati." Anyway, Ron was asking for it, I can not believe that he said such a rude thing to you! He is such a jerk!"

"That he is!" agreed Hermione, relieved that Harry was not like that.

"So... are you planning to forgive him?" asked Lavender, she seemed keen to know.

"Of course not!" exclaimed Hermione.

"You have every right not to!" agreed Lavender, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Well, he is your friend…" said Parvati.

"Was" corrected Hermione.

With that the three girls entered the Great Hall. Many heads turned their way, Hermione guessed that news travel fast, but she was not going to bother. She just put on her usual smile and proceeded to eat breakfast at the Gryffindor table. There was the usual small talk going on around the tables during breakfast, when all of a sudden there was silence. Hermione, who had just finished eating her cereal, looked towards the Great Hall's entrance in order to meet the cause of it...

It was Harry and Ron who had just entered the Great Hall. Harry appeared to be in a bit of a bad mood but Ron was his usual self. That insensitive pig! The two boys walked her way and sat down next to her, Harry with a look that clearly stated "I am about to sort things out, you better cooperate" Hermione could not believe that Ron had just sat next to her as if nothing had ever happened! Harry nagged Ron, who obviously did not get the hint and since his friend was obviously not going to start, Harry did, after giving him a nasty glare.

"We are here to sort things out …" he started, a bit hesitant at first "This whole thing was probably a huge misunderstanding, Ron crossed the line, you are aware of his anger management issues..." trailed off Harry.

Hermione turned to look at Ron who was now grinning, obviously excepting her to accept his not even stated apology and move on as if their fight was no big deal! Ha! He did not even look guilty for God's sake's! Was he that oblivious? She wondered. That is when she realized that everyone, teachers included, were paying attention to their conversation waiting for her reply. Ron must have taken the silence as a sign of truce, so he just put on a goofy smile and asked:

"Mione, can you pass me the croissants?" That was it!

*Smack*

Hermione slapped him across the face as hard as she could and then proceeded to pure a glass of pumpkin juice all over his head. His look was priceless. The first ones to overcome the state of shock were the Slytherins, who started laughing, hard, soon followed by the rest of the Houses.

Hermione caught a glimpse of a blond boy whistling before storming out of the Great Hall, murmuring "Bloody pig."

**Drama, i know. Do you think that Hermione is a bit hard on Ron?Tell me if you do. No Draco in this chapter but at the end, i am sorry about that but it was kind of necessary. **

**REVIEW!Let me know what you think!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello there! So, this chapter is the longest i have written so far, when it comes to this story and it only took me a week to update. I am getting better at this! Yay :)I hope you will like it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

To say that Ron was surprised would be an understatement. He was in a state of severe shock.

"Did-did she just sla-slap me? He stammered, turning his attention away from the laughing students and on to Harry, who appeared to be the only person in the Great Hall actually making an effort not to burst out laughing.

"I believe that the answer is yes" replied Harry, trying to suppress a chuckle.

Harry appeared to have forgotten being mad at his best friend, he now kind of felt sympathy for him. He did get "punished" after all. Ginny on the other hand was on the verge of choking from all the laughter by now, talk about family…The events sank in and Ron was now furious.

"How could she do that? She is such a…such a…."

"Such a what, Ronald?" Ginny cut him of. She had recovered from all the laughing and her tone was serious. "You are the one who caused the whole thing!"

"No, I am not!" complained Ron." She is the one who went all psycho mode!"

"Are you joking? You called her the "m" word! You should be happy that she didn't hex you!"

"Ginny is right" agreed Parvati who couldn't help but jump into the conversation. "What you said was unacceptable!"

"Women!" sighed Ron, and proceeded to exit the Great Hall , trying to ignore the remaining chuckles , while murmuring to himself things such as : " Not going to let this go!" and " Unnecessary". He was soon followed by his best friend.

"They are right, you know..." commented Harry, but was ignored.

Hermione was feeling better. She was normally not a violent person and would have never slapped one of her friends but under the given circumstances, she felt proud of herself for actually building up the courage to do so. Slapping Ron had felt almost as good as punching Malfoy had ,a few years back

She appeared to be the center of attention for the day, since everyone's eyes were on her, but she soon got used to it and just ignored it. Satisfied with herself for managing not to come across Ron or Harry for the rest of the morning and afternoon, she made her way towards the last class of the day, Charms. She got there quite early and distracted herself by reading today's chapter out of the charm's book.

The classroom was soon filled with students. Hermione saw Ron and Harry entering but they were wise enough to sit at the far end of the classroom, as far away from her as possible. Ron appeared to be in a terrible mood and just glared at her while taking a seat. Harry gave her an apologetic smile before taking a seat himself. After all the students had entered the classroom, Professor Flitwick started explaining today's assignment.

"You will be working in pairs today…"

He didn't manage to get to more details though, since the door was pushed open by Draco Malfoy who even though was late for class did not appear to be in any kind of rush at all.

"May I ask why you are late Mr. Malfoy?" asked Professor Flitwick.

"You may. Professor Snape gave me permission to. You see, I was helping him out with something." He replied, a smug look on his face.

"Very well Mr. Malfoy. Take a seat."

That is when Hermione realized that the only empty seat in the entire classroom was the one next to her. Draco must have acknowledged that about the same time she did, because a smirk played on his lips, before settling down next to her.

"As I was saying, you are going to be working with partners..." went on Professor Flitwick. "The person sitting next to you is going to be your partner"

"Of course" sighed Hermione. She should have seen that coming. Draco said nothing, well that was a first one.

"Go on and read the instructions, I want you to succeed in casting this spell by the end of the lesson. Retrieving memories from someone's head without permission can be quite challenging but I am convinced that most of you will be able to make it."

Harry raised his hand. "Is this like legilimency Professor?" Draco flinched next to Hermione.

"Not quite Mr. Potter. This spell is not nearly as powerful as legilimency. It will only allow you to retrieve one memory from your partner's mind, one that makes him or her feel sad."

Harry seemed relieved.

Hermione had already read the instructions, so she just tried to ignore her partner, something that turned out to be impossible, since Draco was in the mood for chatting. Noticing the folded piece of paper on her side of the desk, she sighed and unfolded it. (**Draco,** _Hermione)_

**That was quite a show you put on earlier.**

_Thanks for the approval…not! _

What has the world come to! She Hermione Jane Granger was passing notes in class, and to Draco Malfoy of all people!

**I must admit it, I hadn't seen that coming. I get of pretty easily.**

_What is that supposed to mean, ferret?_

**First of all, drop that nickname Granger, it is getting old! What I mean is that while I have called you that many times before, Weasley calls you it once and he gets slapped.**

_You got punched back in third year. Remember?_

**That was not for calling you names, you did slap Weasley for that ,even though you don't slap me every time I call you stuff.**

_There is a difference._

**What is it?**

_I actually cared about what he said._

No note came back after that. Hermione stole glances at the blonde boy seated next to her but he kept on reading, his face hard. What she had said was a lie and she was aware of that, the first time Malfoy had called her a mudblood she had cried a lot, but why did he even care? It was probably because he would have liked to be the one to have hurt her the most. Yeah, that must have been it. Hermione's thoughts were interrupted by the Professor.

"Now aim at your partner and cast the spell simultaneously"

Hermione looked over at Draco, whose face was black and signaled him to proceed with the spell.

"Remegro!" they said together .

Draco could she himself along with the Slytherin quidditch team, as well as the golden trio next to the Gryffindor team. Damn, this was second year. This couldn't be good.

"No one asked your opinion, you filthy little mudblood" he witnessed his younger self say.

Hermione lied, he really had hurt her.

Hermione closed her eyes the same time Draco did. She could see herself back at second year, Ron by her side, next to the Gryffindor and Slytherin quidditch teams. Was that what she thought it was?

"No one asked your opinion, you filthy little mudblood"

This memory makes Draco sad?

They both opened their eyes simultaneously. Hermione looked at Draco and he looked back at her, his expression now soft.

That was when the bell rang.

"Dismissed" said professor Flitwick "Great wok! Most of you did it!"

Draco stormed out of the classroom quickly. Hermione noticed one more piece of paper on top of the desk.

**He is not worth it.**

**There you have it! Let me know what you think! Constructive critisism is also welcome:)**

**REVIEW!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello, there! I know that it has been a while but i was really busy with school, i am constantly studying for tests. Anyway, here is chapter 6!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

Hermione was lost in her thoughts for the rest of the day. She wondered around the corridors for a while, trying to put her thoughts in order but since that did not appear to be likely to happen, she decided to head to the Gryffindor common room, in order to get everything out of her mind.

Entering the fat lady's portrait, she came face to face with Ginny, who grabbed her hand and led her to the girl's dormitories without a word. Once they got in, Ginny turned in order to face her friend.

"Is there a specific reason that made you drag me in here?" asked Hermione kind of amused.

"Duh…!" responded Ginny "I was wondering about what you are going to do"

"Concerning what?" asked Hermione, even though being sure about what Ginny was going to say.

"Concerning your fight with Ron of course! Hermione I am really sorry! Who knew that my brother could be such a moron!" sighed Ginny. "I loved what you did this morning! He deserved it!"

"True" agreed Hermione, happy that her friend was not siding with ar

Ginny giggled "It was pretty funny" she admitted "Anyway, what are you going to do now?"

"Honestly, I have no idea" said Hermione "I am really disappointed of him, and if I am to forgive him it might take a while. He did not even appear to be ashamed though! I don't see how I can be friends with him if he can't understand that what he said was not something to say, especially to one of his best friends!"

"You are right" agreed Ginny. "I think that he knows what he did was wrong. But you know Ron.., he is overreacting and I am afraid that he might do something stupid" said Ginny.

"What can he possibly do that will be worse?" asked Hermione.

"You are right" said Ginny "He is not even that creative!" Both girls laughed at that and after chatting for a while longer ,went to their beds in order to sleep, since it had gone pretty late.

All the worries and thoughts that Hermione had managed to keep away for the past couple of hours returned when she went to bed. She could not sleep. That day was pretty intense.

What had her thinking the most was Draco's behavior. He was pretty odd and the memory that made him sad was not what Hermione had expected. Was he really sad that he had called her a mudblood, all those years back? He had called her that a couple more times since then, but now that she thought of it, Draco hadn't used that word in almost a year. He would still insult her, but it wouldn't be about her blood-status, it would be about her friends or something else concerning school. To say the truth his insults really had gotten milder through the years, especially since last year. Was there a possibility that he had changed? He would still be a spoiled brat but he might be kind of nicer.

The notes were something else that had her thinking. What was the meaning of that last one? Well, it was clearly about Ron and what he had done, but why would Draco care? It is not like he had a reason to. Why would he tell her that Ron was not worth it? Ron might have acted like a complete jerk but he was one of her best friends and he hadn't gotten to talk to him or Harry for a whole day. It is not like she had missed their meaningful conversations..., it was that she was used to having them around. For some reason, Draco did not seem to be that fond of their relationship but then again why would he even care?

Hermione drifted off to sleep, confused. She was not sure about what she was supposed to do.

At the boys dormitories Harry and Ron were still up, playing a game with Neville and Seamus.

"It is your turn Ron!" said Seamus, trying to get Ron, who was clearly not paying attention, to notice him.

"Sorry, I kind of zoned out" said Ron

"We noticed" replied Seamus

"Are you still upset about this morning?" asked Neville. Harry sighed "Here we go again "he murmured but his best friend did not appear to have heard him.

"How can I not be?" complained Ron. "What do you think I should do?" he asked his friends.

"Apologize!" Said Neville and Harry simultaneously. Harry was relieved that someone thought the same thing. Ron was convinced that apologizing was not an option.

"No! She is the one who made a fool out of me in front of the entire school!" he complained once again. That was not the first time that Harry had heard that sentence that day.

"Not much of an accomplishment really..." commented Seamus jokingly.

"What is that supposed to mean?" demanded Ron.

"Nothing. You really need to cool down a bit!" said Seamus.

"So, what do you think I should do?" he asked once again.

"Apologize!" yelled Harry and Neville once more. Seamus stayed quiet.

Ron ignored Neville and Harry, as if they had never talked and turned to Seamus.

"Seamus, what about you?" he asked.

"Well…." Started Seamus

"Watch it…" Harry warned him and glared at Ron.

"You can always get her back…."He continued with a mischievous smile.

"Noooo….." Harry cried out but Ron did not seem to listen.

"I will help you..!" offered Seamus "I have always admired Fred and George, so I am in for a good prank..."

"Done!" agreed Ron, excitedly

"Noooo…..!" This time Harry was joined by Neville. This was not good, not good at all!

**So..., what do you think? Let me know! Pretty please..**

**Oh, and do you think that Hermione should forgive Ron or not? I have two senarios planned in my head and i can't seem to be able to make up my mind!**

**REVIEW!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello!Here is chapter seven!Even though i am writing in third person's POV, i have been focusing on Hermione, so for a change i focused on Draco at the beginning of this chapter. Tell me if you like it, and which way you like best.**

Draco woke up that morning feeling quite conflicted. He was confused as to why he had even bothered "communicating" with Hermione during class.

Her punching Weasley was an entertaining sight to say the least. No, it was more than that; it was a sight that got him wondering. Blaise had informed him about what Weasley had said to Hermione and he was surprised when she slapped him. He wouldn't get slapped every time he called her names. He just needed to know. His curiosity is what had made him look for answers, and the answers he got were not ones to please. He shouldn't have asked in the first place. He shouldn't have been curious. All he got from the whole situation was Hermione telling him that what he said didn't matter to her at all! But then again, why would he even care! Was Weasley better than him? Was he seriously asking himself such a question?

He had used that word to insult Hermione first. Why hadn't he gotten slapped? Okay, something was really wrong with that question!

"So…this is what insanity feels like" he murmured to himself.

That is when he noticed Blaise, leaning against the door, looking at him with a mix of worry and amuse in his eyes.

"Talking to yourself, mate?" he asked smirking.

"No..." protested Draco.

"Don't get so jumpy, I believe you" said Blaise, making it obvious with his tone that this was not the case. "So…."he continued "What was that in class yesterday?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Draco looked perfectly innocent but it would take more than that for Blaise to believe him, he just knew him too well.

"I am not blind Draco. I kind of noticed you passing notes to Granger. What was that about?"

Draco cursed his best friend's observingness under his breath but didn't change his facial expression. He had done nothing wrong.

"I was just asking around about the whole Weasley incident" he replied.

"Why do you care?" asked Blaise, a knowing smirk forming on his lips.

"I don't. I was just curious"

"Right…." Blaise could be so annoying at times!

"What is it with all the questions!" Draco glared at his best friend. "It feels like I am being interrogated!"

"I am just being a good friend, wondering…." Said Blaise, it was now his turn to give Draco an innocent look.

"Well, stop wondering. All you achieve is growing irritating!"

"Fine…" Blaise gave up for the time being, the knowing smirk never leaving his face

Hermione stole a glance at her schedule for the day, while at the Gryffindor table, eating breakfast and groaned.

"What is wrong?" asked Ginny.

"I have potions with the Slytherins in twenty minutes!" complained Hermione, while taking a bite of her toast.

"I feel bad for you. The only class I have with the Slytherins is Charms, and even that small amount of time with them gets me in a bad mood. I can not even imagine having half of my classes with them!" replied Ginny, glaring at the Slytherin table. Hermione followed Ginny's eyes and looked at the Slytherin table, but averted her gaze as soon as she realized that her eyes had gotten fixed on a particular student.

"Dumbledore believes that this is to promote house unity, between the two houses. He thinks that the rivalry, in our year in particular, is really intense. I really don't see this whole thing getting us anywhere though. The more time we spent together, the more we despise each other." Commented Hermione, adding an "until now at least" in her mind.

"You are right." Agreed Ginny. "Have you seen Harry?" she changed the subject.

"No" replied Hermione "I haven't talked to him since what happened with Ron. Why?"

"It is just that he looked really worried earlier. I only saw him for a second and he was all anxious." Said Ginny. "Something is going on, and I am not sure that I want to know"

"You worry too much, Gin" Hermione reassured her.

The two girls were now walking down one of the hallways, making their way to class.

"Probably. Anyway, what are you going to do? Don't you miss the boys?"

"I guess so, but I am not sure that I should forgive Ron. Harry has done nothing wrong, it's not him that I am mad at."

"I get it. You know what? I think that you should give Ron a chance, and I am not saying this because I am his sister. If you miss them you should let it go, you can always slap him and never talk to him again, if he does something wrong again!" said Ginny, half serious, half joking.

"We will see" said Hermione, unaware of the blond boy that heard the last words that Ginny said and Hermione's reply, while passing by, on his way to class.

Hermione took a seat, and waited for Prof. Snape to begin. He noticed Ron and Harry talking, the last one looking kind of desperate while Ron just kept on going. Harry turned and gave Hermione an apologetic look before getting involved in the conversation once again. "What was that about?" she wondered, but soon turned her attention to the Professor.

"You will be working on a relatively easy potion today, but you are going to be assigned partners nonetheless." He explained and then went on calling names. "Parkinson with Nott, Potter with Weasley, Zabini with Finnegan, Longbottom with Goyle, Malfoy with Granger, …" and he went on, but that is when Hermione stopped listening.

She turned to look at Draco, trying to notice any sign of repulse or frustration, but found none. He just seemed skeptical. Draco gestured her to come over to his table, and she did, being a bit hesitant. This was the second time that they were going to be working together in two days, and it was definitely going to be interesting .

**So, let me know what you think and tell me whether i should stick to Hermione or not. Don't forget to REVIEW! *puppy dog eyes***


	8. Chapter 8

**Here is chapter eight! I hope you will like it.**

**Disclaimer : I don't own Harry Potter(Duh!)**

Hermione took a seat and looked at Draco who was giving her a weird look. She looked away and set the cauldron, after getting her book out of her back, but when she eventually turned his way he was still staring. Hermione decided to get his attention.

"Earth to Malfoy, we need to get started!" she said, while snapping her fingers in front of his face. He seemed to focus, so she went on.

"Do you mind brewing while I go and get the ingredients?" she asked and he just nodded, not saying a word. That was pretty weird, considering who he was. Draco would normally make a rude remark, groan or simply answer while glaring. Taking into consideration his behavior lately, most of those options would have been out of order, but silence was definitely not like him. Hermione shrugged it off and kept on working.

That potion might have been a relatively easy one, but it required constant adding of ingredients, so Hermione was way too busy to pay attention to Draco's behavior, the only thing she could do was steal some glances at him. The bell rang before they had the chance to finish the potion, so Hermione looked questioningly at Prof. Snape.

"You may proceed with the preparation of the potion" he said, his tone stating that he was not that interested. Most of the students were making their way to the door, so Draco decided to finally speak, in order to protest of course.

"Why is everyone else leaving?" he demanded.

"They have already failed the assignment; most of them were obviously not clever enough to prepare even that silly potion." He replied "Although Longbottom messing the ingridients before handing them out, might have had something to do with it" he added, his voice smug.

"So, we have to stay here?" asked Hermione.

"Just until you finish the potion Miss. Granger, i believe you have already finished most of it, you must not need more than fifteen minutes" he said and turned to leave.

"Wait! Where are you going?" asked Hermione.

"I have some things to take care of" he replied shortly and then exited the door.

"Well that was strange" commented Hermione, but yet again got no answer. It seemed like her partner had gotten back in silent mode. She rolled her eyes and checked the potion; just to find him giving her that look of his when she turned around. She couldn't take it anymore.

"What are you looking at?" she demanded. Draco didn't even flinch, he just averted his gaze.

"Are you going to speak or what?" Hermione raised her voice and Draco looked straight into her eyes once again.

"Are you serious?" he asked, sounding quite annoyed. Hermione felt relieved that he finally responded even though his words made no sense.

"What are you talking about?" She couldn't think of anything that would lead to his question.

"I am talking about you actually thinking about forgiving Weasley!" he sounded angry, and that made no sense to Hermione. "We will see" he mocked, she couldn't believe in her ears.

"Why do you get all upset?" she asked, irritated by his behavior.

"You can not just forgive him! Look at what he said to you!" he raised his voice, something that didn't go unnoticed by Hermione.

"You have done worse!" she raised her voice as well.

"I…" he started but was interrupted.

"You, what? If there is someone I should be holding a grudge at, that is you! And here I am , talking to you, no , fighting with you over something that does not concern you in any kind of way!" she was now yelling at his face.

"If I want to forgive one of my best friends I shall, that is none of your business!" she went on. There were now standing real close, their faces flushed from the argument.

"You can not just forgive him" he whispered.

"Watch me" she said, took a step back, added "The potion should be ready now" and exited the classroom, slamming the door shut.

Hermione entered the girl's dormitories to find Ginny doing her nails. She sighed and sat on the bed herself.

"What got you all riled up?" asked Ginny, while putting the nail polish away.

"Malfoy" replied Hermione "We got into a fight again"

"What did he do? Harry told me that you had to finish some kind of assignment and you stayed behind."

"It is not something that he did, no, not this time"

"So what happened?" Ginny was curious

"He got all upset because I am thinking about forgiving Ron"

"Elaborate, I am afraid I have lost you. Since when does Malfoy express his opinion about things like that, and most importantly since when you two even talk?" Hermione sighed.

"Well, the day I slapped Ron in the Great Hall he passed me a note in class, wanting to know more about it. He said that I had never slapped him when he would call me names whereas I did slap Ron. I told him that I actually care about what Ron thinks and then he got all stiff and wouldn't talk." She stopped to take a breath.

"Damn, Hermione, you are supposed to tell me about such things!" said Ginny

"I didn't think it was important enough to mention."

"We will see about that! Now, go on!"

"Where was I? Oh, right. Before leaving that day he passed me one last note, that said that he is not worth it, I believe he was referring to Ron" commented Hermione

"He was clearly referring to Ron" agreed Ginny, she was growing pretty interested in the matter and couldn't wait to hear more. "So, what happened today?" she asked.

"We were assigned to work together, but he wouldn't speak a word. After Snape had left he asked me whether I was serious about thinking to forgive Ron, and said that I shouldn't do that." explained Hermione. Ginny squealed.

"He what?" she asked.

"I thought it was weird too, but he was quite persistent." Went on Hermione.

"Merlin's beard!" squealed Ginny once again.

"What?" asked Hermione, confused.

"He…he likes you!" said Ginny, quite loud at that.

"What are you talking about?" asked Hermione.

"Can't you see? Malfoy is not the kind of person to talk to Gryffindors, let alone muggleborns, and now he is all upset about you forgiving Ron!"

"Angry would be more like it!" commented Hermione.

"Even better!" said Ginny, who was now jumping up and down. "This is priceless!"

"Ginny, stop being ridiculous! Just because he has been acting more friendly doesn't mean that he likes me!" protested Hermione.

"This is Draco Malfoy we are talking about, do you recall him being even slightly friendly to anyone before? The answer is negative!"

"He is more annoying than friendly, now that I think about it"

"Keep lying to yourself " sang Ginny while exiting the room.

Hermione groaned.

Ginny's head became visible from the door "Oh, and try not to blush next time you talk about it!" she added and then left , giggling .

**So, how was it? Let me know what you think.**

**REVIEW! pretty please...**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello! Here is chapter nine. I hope you'll like it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

Draco stood there for a while longer, replaying the argument in his mind. What had just happened? He had just asked, practically pleaded, a girl that he should not even be talking to, not to forgive one of her best friends. Weasley was a pig, true, but why had he bothered to get into a fight over him? He knew the answer to that. He cared. More that he should at that.

Draco sighed and exited the classroom, while mentally cursing. He was not supposed to care, and he would have to put an end to it. Hermione was right, this did not concern him in any kind of way, only it did, and he could not stop it! He promised himself not to get involved again.

While passing a corner of a corridor, he heard voices. Draco recognized Ron's voice and couldn't help but stop, in order to hear what he was saying. Soon Draco heard another voice, whose owner did not recognize, it was definitely not Potters, which was kind of weird. The two boys were keeping their voices down, but they could still be heard since Ron's quiet voice could be considered more normal that quiet. Draco was curious. He soon heard Hermione's name being mentioned and tried to hear even harder.

"Are you sure that this will not be too much? Asked the boy, whose name Draco didn't know.

"Yes, it is just right. It has to be humiliating, what she did to me was horrible" replied Ron and Draco stiffened, he better not mean what he thought he did.

"It is up to you mate" said the other boy "It is a good one, but getting her diary can be quite tricky."

Draco did not know that Hermione was keeping a diary, and considering the circumstances he was not exactly pleased to know. He had an idea about what the two Gryffindors were up to, and even though this was considered a second grade prank in Slytherin, he did not like it one bit. How could Weasley be so stupid! He was not the friend that Hermione thought he was and he certainly did not deserve to be forgiven. Hermione might be the brightest witch of her age but she obviously had no idea that a person she considered to be a friend would do such a thing.

"We can handle that; I just can not wait to see Hermione's face after that! It will be priceless" added Ron.

That was it for Draco. He revealed himself, glaring at Ron, who was standing next to a boy, who Draco now remembered was called Finnegan; he was the one who would make everything explode.

"You are such a bastard!" he said while walking towards Ron, who was a good 20 feet away, he must have been practically screaming for Draco to have heard them, guess he was not trying to be quiet after all.

"Malfoy, what the hell…" Ron did not manage to finish that sentence since Draco had now reached him. The last thing Ron felt before passing out, was Draco's fist colliding with his face.

Draco glared at Seamus who was standing there shocked, before turning around, heading to the Slytherin common room. It seemed like he was not able to stick to his promise after all.

He was furious. It had felt good to punch that jerk and he was happy he did it. He had a good reason to. Hermione would now see what kind of person Weasley was. Draco would admit that he was really pleased by that. He should not care dam it! He guessed it was too late for that now.

As soon as he entered the boy's dormitories, he was greeted by Blaise who immediately started asking questions.

"What did you do?" he asked.

"Why is it that you assume I did something?" he asked, knowing that if he told Blaise he would give him a hard time.

"Oh, just spit it!"

"I punched Weasley" replied Draco and Blaise burst out laughing.

"I should have seen that coming" said Blaise, while still laughing.

"How so?" asked Draco.

"Just answer me one more question" said Blaise "What made you punch him?"

"He was planning to prank Hermione, to get her back for the Great Hall incident." explained Draco.

"There you have the answer to your question" said Blaise, the knowing smile forming on his lips once again.

"You are insufferable, you know that?" complained Draco, not denying anything though.

"So I've been told" smirked Blaise "I see you've come to terms with you condition." he joked.

"What condition?" Asked Draco.

"The Granger one" said Blaise and stooped in order to avoid the book that Draco sent flying at him.

"Oh, shut it!" complained Draco and proceeded walking up to the boy's dormitories.

"Hey, mate?" said Blaise and Draco stopped in order to listen to what his best friend had to say; he was probably going to tease him again.

"What?" asked Draco and was surprised that Blaise's words came out serious.

"You do realize that it is not going to be easy. Most people will not be as open minded as I am" said Blaise

"I know" sighed Draco.

"Are you in for it anyway?" asked Blaise

"All the way" said Draco, surprised to hear his own words "I believe I was in for it for a long time, but I only realized it now" he said, knowing that if the person standing there was anyone other than Blaise, he would have never said that.

"It was about time" commented Blaise, his expression not being judgmental in the least bit.

Draco chuckled lightly before turning to leave once again. "I guess so" he was stopped by Blaise's voice once again.

"Hey, Draco?"

"What?"

"Can I get a picture of you with that loving look? Some people will pay millions to see it" Blaise smirked. The teasing was back on.

That was the second book Draco threw at his friend that day, and there would be more to come.

**So, there you have it. I feel kind of bad because i keep hurting Ron in this story, i can't help it. It is not that i hate Ron as a character (that much) i just like other characters better.(lol) Also, please excuse my poor excuse of a prank,pranking it is just really not my thing. I like the prospect of Draco having real friends as well, so that is why i am "using" Blaise in this story. (just saying)**

**Let me know what you think! It means a lot.**

**REVIEW! **


	10. Chapter 10

**Here is chapter ten. Now, this is a bit shorter that usually, but i am going to update sooner. Please take the time to leave a review if you like it. I didn't even get one review for the previous chapter, even though i got some alerts and favourites( a huge thank you to those people by the way). **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

Hermione was sleeping when Ginny burst into the room.

"Hermione! Wake up!" She cried out, and started shaking the sleeping figure of her friend.

"You need to wake up!" Ginny kept on .

"What is it?" asked a half asleep Hermione, glancing at the clock. "Wow, I must have fallen asleep. I remember reading …"

"A book?" Ginny cut her off, pointing to the one that was lying next to the brunette.

"So would you mind explaining why you just violently woke me up?" asked Hermione, while rubbing her eyes.

"Right!" remembered Ginny "Ron is in the hospital wing!"

Hermione sat up. "What do you mean? What happened?" she asked concerned, he was her friend after all.

"Harry sent me an owl; he really needs to stop doing that while we are both in school, saying that Ron is in the hospital wing. He did not say anything else. I was about to go there and I figured you'd like to come along with me, so I woke you up!" explained Ginny.

"Okay,give me a minute to get ready"

"Sure"

Ten minutes later, the two girls were making their way to the Hospital wing.

"What do you think happened?" asked Hermione, she was not that concerned. Harry would have informed Ginny if her brother was in a bad condition.

"He probably fell of his broom or something." Said Ginny.

"It can't be anything serious" said Hermione

"Nope" agreed Ginny, and with that they entered the Hospital Wing.

Harry, Seamus and Neville all stood around a bed. The two girls approached them and got a clear view of the situation. Seamus had a guilty expression, Neville was concerned and kind of sad and Harry was looking at the patient, his expression half amused and half concerned. His look was clearly stating "I told you so!" As for Ron he was lying on a hospital bed looking miserable. His black eye was now visible.

"What happened?" asked Hermione. Ron looked up, recognizing her voice. "Wow, look a mess!" commented Hermione.

"Thanks!" said Ron, the sarcasm evident in his tone. "Since when do you even talk to me?" he asked.

"Since you got yourself in the hospital!"

"Well, that isalright with me" he said, looking happy. Talk bipolar!

"Is anyone going to answer my question?" went on Hermione, ignoring Ron.

"He got punched" replied a smug Harry, causing Ginny to chuckle. Ron glared at them and then turned to Harry. "What is your problem?" he asked.

"You know" said Harry, giving him a nasty look. Well, that was weird.

"Really?" asked Hermione.

"Yes" Seamus was the one to speak. "I was there"

Ginny was now looking at Ron who was complaining.

"It hurts!"

"Oh, stop whining! You are such a baby!" said Ginny, and Ron stopped, looking embarrassed and annoyed.

"Who punched him?" asked Ginny, still glaring at her brother.

"Malfoy"said Seamus.

"Wait. What?" Hermione did not see that coming. That ferret, not minding his own business.

"Why did he punch him?" asked Ginny, looking over at Hermione.

"Ummm…we don't know" said Seamus, but Ginny did not believe him.

"He can't have just punched him!" exclaimed Ginny.

"Well he did!" said Ron. Harry looked as if he was about to interfere but was stopped by Ron's pleading eyes. Harry sighed, glared at his best friend one last time and turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" asked Ron.

"I need to get some homework done" lied Harry. He just couldn't stand being in there anymore.

"I am coming with you!" said Neville, who had not spoken a word so far. It was as if he was afraid of saying something wrong. Little did Hermione know that this was exactly the case.

After Harry and Ron had left, Hermione and Ginny soon took off themselves. As soon as they exited the door Hermione's expression turned into one of fury. She started walking really fast.

"Where are you going?" asked Ginny, even though she already knew the answer to that question.

"To give Malfoy a piece of my mind!" said Hermione, looking murderous.

"Hermione wait! Don't you think that something is not right with the boy's story? Malfoy couldn't have just attacked Ron! He may be bad , but that does not sound like him" said Ginny.

"It sounds exactly like him!" yelled Hermione, leaving Ginny behind.

Hermione wondered where she could find Draco. The classes were over by now, she had spent most of the afternoon sleeping. Fortunately , she hadn't missed any of her classes since the last one of hers was at one o'clock . "Now, where could he be?" murmured Hermione.

That is when it came to her. The Slytherin team had quidditch practice that evening. She would be able to find him afterwards. "Great!" thought Hermione. But wait! Since when did she know when the Slytherins had quidditch practice? She sighed, annoyed. A certain blonde Slytherin was to blame for this.

**So, what do you think? Hermione is going to confront Draco in the next chapter! This chapter did not have much Dramione in it, but i am going to make it up to you guys! :)**

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**REVIEW! **


	11. Chapter 11

**Here is chapter eleven! This is kind of short, i am aware, but i thought that this scene should have a chapter of it's own. Oh and, please don't hate me for this! (lol) Last but not least, i would like to thank everyone who reviewed, alerted and favourited the previous chapter.(love you guys!)**

**Disclaimer : I don't own Harry Potter!( i am not joking, i am really not joking).**

Hermione stood behind a corner, not far from the entrance of the Slytherin common room, waiting for a certain blonde Slytherin to pass by on his way back from quidditch practice. She was trying to convince herself that what she was doing could not be called stalking, but had no luck. The part of her mind insisting that this was weird had the upper hand. She just shrugged it off and kept waiting, she had been there for a while and she was not going to give up and leave now. No, she was too stubborn for that.

She did not have to wait much longer since the Slytherin prince found her himself. Hermione had zoned out, when she was brought back to reality by Draco's face way too close to hers.

"Are you looking for something?" he asked, leaning against the wall, his signature smirk on his lips, as always.

"Yes, for a never minding its own business ferret. Have you happened to come across it?" asked Hermione.

"I am afraid not, but I will keep an eye out for it" came Draco's remark, quickly. "I assume that you have come down here to talk" Draco figured that Hermione would come over to thank him for stopping Ron from pulling a prank on her, so he just stood there smiling.

"Yes, I wanted to have a word with you" Hermione could not believe that he actually had the nerve to smile. That is when Draco noticed that Hermione's expression was not one of gratefulness, but one of anger.

"Look, you don't have to…" Hermione cut him off though.

"How dare you punch Ron!" shouted Hermione. "How mean can you possibly be!"

Draco was taken by surprise. He had not seen anything like that coming.

"Excuse me?"

"You can obviously not go a day without making someone's life miserable! You always have to interfere, even when it is not any of your business! I have never met anyone more sly and pathetic than you!" Hermione just kept going.

"Granger, what the h…." Draco was now going from confused and irritated to angry. How could she say things like that! All he did was protect her, and there she was insulting him, in a way that no one has before.

"I can not believe that I thought, even for a minute, that you had actually changed! You will always be the same pathetic, prejudiced and immature kid! All you are good at is hurting others!" Hermione had gone too far, but found that she was unable to stop.. Maybe it had nothing to do with Draco hurting Ron, maybe that was just an excuse for her to let it all out. "You, evil, little cockroach!"

Any hint of a smirk was now whipped off of Draco's face. His features were hard, and his eyes unreadable. The walls that took so long to take down were up once again, this time stronger.

"I've said it before, and I will say it once again. You don't know me. You don't know a damn thing about me." His voice was cold, almost threatening. He took one step foward while the words left his mouth, and Hermione took a step backwards, realising for the first time that he could probably be dangerous if he wanted to.

"I know that you were totally fine with punching Ron, for no apparent reason at that!" exclaimed Hermione.

"For no apparent reason! So that is what he said!" yelled Draco, now everything being clear to him.

"Yes, that is exactly what he said!" replied Hermione.

"You just don't get it, do you? How oblivious can you be?"

"Well help me get it!" yelled Hermione, now right in front of him. "Help me get you, because frankly I am having trouble doing so." Hermione paused for a couple of seconds, looking into his stormy eyes searching for something that would give away his motives, thoughts, anything.

She went on, he voice now slightly lower. "So, why do you do it? Are you just naturally vicious?" she asked and glared at him, waiting for an answer. Hermione saw sadness flash through his eyes just for a split second, before it being replaced by desperation and then going total blank.

"No, it is not because of that." He practically whispered, before taking a step backwards.

"Then what is it?" demanded Hermione.

Draco sighed. "Just forget it." He said, his tone soft, tired. "I am done." He then turned around and left, leaving Hermione standing there, wondering whether she had gone too far.

Ginny might have been right, she was lying to herself.

**Liked it? Hated it? Any critisism? Let me know what you think! I will not have school for the next five days or so, so the more reviews i'll get the sooner i'll update.**

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	12. Chapter 12

**Hello! A super quick update for you guys! I want to thank everyone who alerted or favourited this story , as well as express my disappointment for not even getting one review! I mean this story has over 3,500 hits and a LOT of alerts, nonetheless no one bothers reviewing. I really appreciate feedback, positive or negative. If you don't like my story, don't hesitate to let me know. Constructive critisism is more than welcome. It is just that i would really like to know what you guys think. Anyway, enough with me. On with the story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

Draco kept on walking until he found himself in front of the common room portrait. He whispered the password "Dragon blood" and entered. He did not pay attention to anyone, walking by all the people that called his name, asking for him to join them. He had almost made it to the boy's dormitory door, when he felt someone grab his arm. He did not have to turn around to figure out who that person was.

"Oh, come on now Drakie-poo! Stay! We are playing a game!" Draco scowled at the nickname that Pansy had forced on him. She was the only one that dared calling him that, and the only one that could get away with it. Pansy was like a sister to him. Through those past years many people thought that they were dating, something that was never true, but everyone in Slytherin knew that this was not the case. They were just really close friends.

Draco tried to release his arm but in vain.

"Please let go" he sounded tired. Pansy noticed that. He gave him a look that stated "We will talk later" and let go of his hand.

Draco just nodded, and hurried slipping in to the room, before someone else could stop him. As soon as he was inside, the anger emerged once again and caused him to hit the wall with his fist. Since when did he get anger management issues, he had no idea. The moment his hand collided with the wall he felt the pain but just shrugged it off.

"Really, hitting walls? Once you start punching you can't stop, can you?" came Blaise's voice from behind him. He must have entered, without Draco knowing.

"Piss off!" came Draco's response, but Blaise was not affected by such things and Draco knew that.

"Would you calm down and tell me what happened?" asked Blaise.

"I…" he was cut off by the sound of the door opening and then being slammed shut again. Pansy locked it and then turned around to face the two boys.

"Now talk!" she said and glared at Draco.

"What is it now, Pansy?"

"You have been walking around the castle looking all weird for the past few days and I pretend not to notice, but this is has got to stop! You don't talk to anyone but him!" she pointed an accusing finger at Blaise. "I want to know what is going on and I am not leaving this room until I do!" she finished and looked expectantly at both of them.

"So who is going to tell me what is up?" she asked and sat herself on a nearby bed, indicating that she had not intention to leave anytime soon.

"Look, Pansy…"

"I am not looking, I am listening!" she shouted. "Draco I am your best friend..." Blaise snorted at that and Pansy glared at him. "You can tell me anything..." her voice was now soft.

Draco sighed and looked over at Blaise "Can you fill her in while I got and get my broomstick? I forgot it in the corridor." He asked and Blaise nodded. "Until this point, right?" he asked. "Yeah, I'll take it from there" he said and turned to unlock the door.

"I'll be right back"

When Draco came back he met Pansy's eyes looking at him intently.

"Seriously?" she asked "A crush on Granger?" Blaise burst out laughing at that point.

"I don't want to know how you presented it"

"You really don't" agreed Blaise.

Pansy was still standing there trying to believe what she had just found out. "This never crossed my mind" she admitted before bursting into a fit of giggles. Blaise looked more than amused.

"Not you too!" complained Draco.

"I am sorry! But this is just ridiculous!" exclaimed Pansy, still giggling.

"Anyway. It doesn't matter now"

"Here we go." Said Blaise. "Back to the point. What happened?"

"Let's just say that Hermione just told me what she thinks of me" said Draco and sat down on his bed. "It was not pretty, no one has ever spoken to me like that, and I am Draco Malfoy! Almost everyone in this entire castle hates me!"

"That is not true" Pansy tried to comfort him.

"Name tree people that like me. Slytherins don't count. Nor do all the girls that chase after me without even knowing me."

"Well, there is… and then.." She could not think of anyone.

"See?"

"That is not your fault! It is them who don't bother getting to know you!"

"Hermione just kept accusing me ,saying how horrible I am. You know what? I won't bother anymore. If that is what she thinks of me, let it be."

"You will get over it in no time" said Pansy "Half the female population of Hogwarts wants to date you, don't waste your time on her. She is the Gryffindor golden girl. Gryffindor and Slytherin don't go together. It is better that way"

" She is right on that one mate" agreed Blaise.

"You know what the worst part is? She believed Weasley, who said that I attacked him for no reason, and wouldn't even listen to anything else."

"Let it go" said Pansy.

"I will "

**That's it for chapter 12. What did you think of it? Let me know!**

**REVIEW!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hello there! Here is another chapter! Yay! I want to thank you all for the alerts, favourites and reviews(!). So, one of you asked me to do a recap at the begining of each chapter and i thought i'd give it a shot. I decided against the summary, so i am going to go for the last part of the previous chapter. If you want summarys though, let me know.**

**Disclaimer:I don't own Harry Potter.**

~~_In the previous chapter_~~~~

_"Hermione just kept accusing me ,saying how horrible I am. You know what? I won't bother anymore. If that is what she thinks of me, let it be."_

_"You will get over it in no time" said Pansy "Half the female population of Hogwarts wants to date you, don't waste your time on her. She is the Gryffindor golden girl. Gryffindor and Slytherin don't go together. It is better that way"_

_" She is right on that one mate" agreed Blaise._

_"You know what the worst part is? She believed Weasley, who said that I attacked him for no reason, and wouldn't even listen to anything else."_

_"Let it go" said Pansy._

_"I will "_

~~~~ _chapter 13_ ~~~~~~

Hermione was woken up by a rise of sunlight hitting her face. She groaned and opened her eyes to meet the sight of a fully dressed and dolled up Ginny Weasley, standing over her bed, like a hawk, arms crossed. That girl really needed to stop waking people up!

"What is it Ginny?" asked Hermione, rubbing her eyes. She glanced over at the clock "We still have forty five minutes until breakfast! How come you are up and ready so early?"

"I want to know what happened yesterday!" explained Ginny, as if it was the most obvious thing in the entire world.

"Right…." Hermione sighed "Will you give me a couple of minutes to get ready? Then we can take a walk before breakfast and I will fill you in. Does that sound okay?"

"Sure" replied Ginny, noticing Hermione's tired voice. Something was telling her that things did not exactly run smoothly the previous day. Count on a fight with Draco Malfoy to make her best friend look all warn up.

It did not take Hermione long to put on her school uniform and her school robes on top. She took a look of herself in the mirror and silently cursed her mess of a hair and the bags under her eyes (that was so HIS fault). She quickly grabbed a brush and tried to untangle the knots, but soon gave up and used a spell instead. Casting a spell aiming at her eyes was out of the question ,so she put on some concealer and hoped that it would not be so noticeable. She was not one to wear make up often. At the end of it all she looked decent enough to walk in public.

"That is more like it"

"Are you coming or what?" Ginny's voice came from outside the door, and Hermione hurried to follow her friend.

The two of them were walking along the banks of the lake, Ginny now fully informed about the previous day's events.

"I might have gone too far. He did look kind of hurt for a moment there" an image of Draco sad was stuck in Hermione's head and wouldn't leave.

"You were kind of hard on him" agreed Ginny.

"I am not supposed to worry about it. He punched Ron!"

"Well, you slapped Ron!"

"That was different! I had a good reason to!"

"I don't see any kind of difference. In both cases my brother played the role of the punching bag"

"You forget the "Had no reason to start a fight" part"

"This whole thing looks weird to me. Something must have caused Malfoy to do it"

"You don't know that!"

"It looks like you are desperately trying to convince yourself that he is the bad guy"

"He has always been the bad guy! Anyway, since when do you stand up for Draco Malfoy?"

"Since he might have had a thing for you and vice versa!" explained Ginny, giving Hermione a wink.

"I do not have a thing for Draco Malfoy!" exclaimed Hermione.

"You were so close to coming in terms with it, and then this had to happen!"

"I do not have a thing for Draco Malfoy!" said Hermione once again.

"You two would be so cute together! I can imagine the faces of everyone once they 'd find out!" went on Ginny, ignoring Hermione completely.

"I do not have a thing for Draco Malfoy! And he does not have a thing for me!" Hermione was now practically screaming. Realizing it, she clapped a hand over her mouth and looked around in case someone was close enough to hear her.

"You do. You are just in denial"

"I do not!"

"If you didn't, you wouldn't be all upset about possibly hurting his feelings!" said Ginny in a matter of factly voice.

Hermione was about to protest, when the fact sank in. Her eyes widened and she looked over at Ginny, only to find her smirking.

"Merlin! I have a thing for Draco Malfoy!" she exclaimed, and half expected the world to come to an end at that very moment. The sky did not seem to collapse on her head though, and the ground was not shaking either. The look on Hermione's face was enough to make Ginny burst out laughing.

"Now, that wasn't so bad, was it?" said Ginny, who was now grinning like a maniac. "_It__ was for_ _me!"_thought Hermione

"Ginny, that does not change anything..."

"Of course it does!"

"I hate to ruin your match maker plans, but I made clear that I do not want to have anything to do with him yesterday, when I accused him of being a horrible person. He probably hates me right now. That if he ever liked me to begin with! Plus, he still punched Ron!"

"Damn it, Hermione! Don't you make everything easier!" sighed Ginny. "The part about Ron is still in question, and he can't be that mad. Boys are completely insensitive sometimes"

"He might have mentioned that he was done" said Hermione.

"Done with what?"

"I am not sure. Probably with the situation… and me..."

"Just lovely!" sighed Ginny, before dragging a still shocked Hermione into the Great hall for breakfast. "Come on, Harry is waiting. This is not over though!"

"Didn't think so.." murmured Hermione.

**That is the end of this chapter! There should be some Dramione soon. They haven't come across each other for two chapters now, in case you haven't noticed. I will have no school for the next two weeks, so i should update more frequently. There are not that many chapters left to go. So, what did you think of this chapter? Let me know! You know the way!**

**REVIEW! See that blue button thingy? Click on it! (i feel so predictable by now!)**


	14. Chapter 14

**I would have posted this earlier but something went wrong and the document was lost. I had to write it all over again! *sigh* I posted this right after finishing it, so there might be some mistakes. (Honestly, i finished the chapter five minutes ago and here i am writing this.) Thank you for your alerts, favourites and reviews, as well as for taking the time to read this. On with the story...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter! (Dreams don't count. Right?)**

_~~~In the previous chapter~~~_

_"He might have mentioned that he was done" said Hermione._

_"Done with what?"_

_"I am not sure. Probably with the situation… and me..."_

_"Just lovely!" sighed Ginny, before dragging a still shocked Hermione into the Great hall for breakfast. "Come on, Harry is waiting. This is not over though!"_

_"Didn't think so.." murmured Hermione._

_**Chapter 14.**_

As soon as Ginny and Hermione entered the Great Hall, they noticed Harry and Ron, sitting at the far end of the Gryffindor table. Ginny practically skipped all the way until they reached them and then proceeded to take a seat next to Harry. He smiled at her and kissed her on the cheek, before turning back to his pancakes. Hermione took the empty seat next to Ron and tried to ignore his disturbing table manners, reaching out for a croissant herself.

Hermione soon understood that sitting next to Ron was not such a great idea, since she was now facing the Slytherin table. She couldn't stop her eyes from searching for a certain blonde, but had no luck with that. Draco was not there. A friend of his was though, and he was looking at her intently. Hermione remembered what his name was Blaise. Blaise kept on giving her a curious look and Hermione realized that she must have been staring at the Slytherin table for quite a long time. Not wanting to attract any kind of attention, she focused on what was happening at her own table, participating in the conversation along with her friends.

"Are you feeling better?" she asked Ron after a while, gesturing to his black eye.

"I guess so..." replied Ron "It still hurts a little bit though..." Hermione noticed that some girls were looking at Ron with awe, as if he had survived a war or something like that. _Pathetic _she thought.

Harry snorted. "You are fine" he said and averted his gaze.

"As fine as someone like you can possibly be, that is" continued Ginny, resulting in her receiving a death glare from her brother. Ron's swollen eye could not fully open though, so it came out more like a grimace, causing Ginny to burst out laughing, soon followed by Harry.

It appeared to Hermione that Harry was a bit hostile towards Ron but she shrugged it off. She figured it was probably her imagination.

Hermione's first two classes went by with her barely acknowledging it. For once in her life she was not paying attention to the lesson. She did not even take notes. The world really was coming to an end. She couldn't help it though. The realization that she may have feelings for Draco Malfoy made it kind of hard for her to focus on what the Professors were saying. Hardly had the bell rung, when she exited the classroom. She was already making her way to the dungeons for her next class when she come across Lavender and Parvati who where heading there as well. They appeared to be in a mood for chatting.

"Did you see Ron's eye?" Lavender practically squealed.

"It was king of hard not to!" commented Parvati. "He must have gotten into a fight"

"For sure!" agreed Lavender, a dreamy look taking over her face.

"I would not call in a fight" corrected Hermione, who was already getting annoyed by the display of adoration towards her friends face. True, she did not like Ron like that, but fangirling was something that she despised. "It was more like someone punching him square in the face" she went on.

"Who did it?" asked Lavender, the hero image of Ron, clearly fading away.

"Draco Malfoy" replied Hermione.

"Really?" asked Parvati, a hint of interest evident in her voice. "He does appear to be the bad boy type of guy..." Lavender giggled at that point.

"He is the freaking gorgeous type. That is what he is!" she commented and both girls started giggling.

That is when it hit Hermione. Draco was the boy that received the largest amount of female attention in the entire Hogwarts. More than half of the girls in Hogwarts would do anything to date him and one hundred percent of them thought that he was unbelievably good - looking! Not all of them were fond of his personality, mostly Gryffindors at that, but no one could deny that he was handsome. The hell with her life! She hadn't thought of that. She tried to remain cool.

"You are kidding, aren't you?" she asked.

"Hermione dear, you have to be blind if can't see it!" said Parvati_. Right _thought Hermione and approached her usual seat, since they had reached the classroom by then. She looked around. The Gryffindors had potions with the Slytherins so he would have to make an appearance. She was wrong. He didn't. Well, that was strange.

Hermione tried her best to focus on what Professor Snape was saying. She could not ignore the extra hostile glares that Pansy Parkinson sent her way throughout the entire class though. Well, that was beyond strange.

This kept on going all day. Draco did not show up during meals and he wasn't in any of their shared classes either. Hermione didn't know what to make of it. Was he really that upset to skip school for an entire day? She didn't think so.

It was ten o'clock and Hermione was sitting on a comfortable sofa in a corner of the Gryffindor common room along with Ginny.

"Did you see Malfoy at all today?" asked Hermione.

"Firstly I think that you should start calling him with his first name. Secondly, where is this coming from?"

"Firstly, that is not going to happen! Secondly, it is that…Well he wasn't in any of the meals. He wasn't in potion and charm's class either."

"I actually saw him, leaving transfiguration and then again with Parkinson and Zabini, during my free period, this morning. Was he really not in any of your shared classes?"

"No…"replied Hermione "Did he look upset when you saw him?"

"Hard to tell. He was pretty far away from where I was standing." Said Ginny. "You got to stop worrying!" she went on. "He can't have gotten that upset! You fight all the time Hermione! You have been enemies for years. It will take more than a couple of insults to make Malfoy upset!"

"You don't know that…"

"I am going to bed!" announced Ginny. "You are impossible!"

"So, you are just going to leave me here?" asked Hermione dramatically.

"Honestly. I don't recognize you anymore!" chuckled Ginny.

"Neither do I…"murmured Hermione, getting up from the sofa, and following Ginny up to the girl's dormitories.

**There you have it! I would really appreciate it if you left a review! It means a lot! Let me know what you think! If you don't like something don't hesitate to point it out to me!:) **

**REVIEW! **


	15. Chapter 15

**_Here is chapter fifteen. I took me a while but i couldn't help it! Pottermore opened for everyone ( finally!) and i kind of got stuck( I am a Ravenclaw!). Yeah, well enough of that... I want to thank you for the alerts, favoutites and reviews. They seriously make me walk around with a huge grin on my face!_**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter._**

_~~~In the previous chapter~~~_

_"Did he look upset when you saw him?"_

_"Hard to tell. He was pretty far away from where I was standing." Said Ginny. "You got to stop worrying!" she went on. "He can't have gotten that upset! You fight all the time Hermione! You have been enemies for years. It will take more than a couple of insults to make Malfoy upset!"_

_"You don't know that…"_

_"I am going to bed!" announced Ginny. "You are impossible!"_

_"So, you are just going to leave me here?" asked Hermione dramatically._

_"Honestly. I don't recognize you anymore!" chuckled Ginny._

_"Neither do I…"murmured Hermione, getting up from the sofa, and following Ginny up to the girl's dormitories._

_Chapter 15._

Hermione was walking towards the Great Hall, numbering the things she had to do that day. Talking to herself was something that would happen in multiple occasions. That is what you get when you are an extremely organized perfectionist with a bunch of things to do.

"Finish the Transfiguration essay, check Harry's, read the next chapter for ancient runes, order "Special herbs for advanced potion brewing" from Flourish and Blotts , write to her parents,…" and so it went on , until she reached the entrance of the Great haul.

She immediately spotted Ginny and sat across from her, putting the books she was holding into her bag.

"Hello there" came the greeting from Ginny as soon as she turned her way.

"Hey..." replied Hermione, scanning the Gryffindor table for any sign of Harry and Ron.

Ginny answered the question before it had left Hermione's lips. "Early quidditch practice. They are getting really obsessed over that cup."

"How come you are not there as well?" asked Hermione.

"I simply stated that the idea was ridiculous. I would really like to see Ron playing before eating breakfast thought. He is probably whining like a three year old!" commented Ginny, causing Hermione to chuckle.

"Most likely." She agreed.

"What about you? Are you feeling okay?" asked Ginny eyeing Hermione worriedly.

"What do you mean? I am not sick!" she protested.

"You kind of are…"

"What is that supposed to mean?" asked Hermione, giving her friend a half-curious half-angry look.

"Well, you like the Slytherin prince!" she mocked, making quotation marks with her hands.

"You will be going on about this for ages, won't you?" sighed Hermione.

"Yep!" said Ginny, smirking.

"That is not fair!" complained Hermione.

"Life is not fair." Ginny went on smirking.

Suddenly her eyes got fixated on something behind Hermione and the smirk fell off of her lips. "Remember when you were worried about Malfoy being upset?" she asked.

"Ginny! This is not funny! Stop -!" started Hermione but soon stopped mid sentence after registering Ginny's expression. "Yes" she answered trying to figure out what was wrong.

"Well, he does not appear upset" said Ginny hesitantly. Hermione understood that Ginny could see him from where she was standing.

"Alright, so how does he appear?" asked Hermione who caught Ginny's nervousness.

"It depends on how you look at it..." replied Ginny diplomatically.

"When it comes to how I would look at it. How does he appear?" Hermione was now getting worried.

"Here is the thing..." started Ginny, but Hermione turned around to see for herself.

There, at the Slytherin table sat Draco and he most certainly did not seem upset. A smirk was plastered on his face (to say she was surprised would be a lie) and he was talking with Blaise, who was clearly amused about something. Hermione took in the scene and searched for something that would cause Ginny's reaction. That is when she saw it. Draco's arm was around the shoulder of a stunning, blonde girl that was sitting beside him. Judging from her robes, she was a Slytherin. Her jaw almost dropped. Draco turned her way just then, locking eyes with her. He noticed her expression and smirked coldly, before turning the blonde girl's way, almost immediately. He smiled at her and she giggled. Hermione did not notice that the smile did not reach his eyes. She looked away quickly and met Ginny's eyes that were full with concern.

"Are you feeling okay?" she asked again, and this time her question actually made sense.

Hermione just nodded and looked towards the door. Thankfully, Ginny took the hint and quickly gathered her stuff, being the first to stand up.

"Are you coming?" she asked Hermione, forcing a small smile. It had to look normal for the people sitting across from them.

"Sure" replied Hermione, in a carefree tone of voice. As carefree as she could possibly master at that particular moment, that is.

As soon as the two of them exited the Great hall, Blaise turned to Draco and mouthed "Did you see that?" to him, so that the girl sitting next to him couldn't hear.

Draco nodded, a smirk playing on his lips. Maybe hope wasn't lost after all.

Hermione was walking really fast, making it hard for Ginny to tag along.

"Hey, wait!" practically yelled Ginny. "You don't know what ..."

"I am sure that was his cousin!" said Hermione sarcastically. "Of course I know!"

"Look, I am not supposed to get upset over this. It wasn't like anything was going on between us anyway. He has a bunch of girls chasing after him. I should have known that it wouldn't take long for him to see it." She sighed.

"I am sure he likes you"

"It doesn't matter. I am fine." said Hermione, more to herself than to Ginny.

"Why don't you..?"

"I am fine." Said Hermione a little louder before heading to class.

Pansy was waiting outside of Draco's first class, her arms crossed and her expression hard. He sensed trouble.

"Did you seriously do that?" she asked, glaring at him.

"Did what? I didn't do anything!" he protested, and tried to move past her. Pansy blocked his way.

"That thing at the Great hall at breakfast" she explained. Draco cursed Blaise under his breath.

"I am afraid you will have to be more specific than that." He said.

"Oh, please! Don't play dumb!"

"That would be really hard for me to play" he commented, resulting in him receiving another glare from Pansy.

"You tried to make her jealous, didn't you?" she asked. Draco didn't get to answer that question since Blaise came out of nowhere and answered it for him.

"Yeah he did! And it worked pretty well at that!" he said and raised his hand for a high five. He got death glares from both Draco and Pansy instead.

"I thought you had agreed to be mature and move on!" she complained.

"It is not like I was trying to do anything different from that. I was sitting with that girl; I think her name is Jenna, when Hermione turned my way and…."

"And what?" she asked.

"Give the kid a break. He might stand a chance after all!" Blaise cut in.

"Look, I don't mind Draco liking … It is just that what he did was pretty low..." she explained.

"We are Slytherins. We are supposed to manipulate people…" Blaise paused there. "Wait a second. Are you angry for Hermione?" He asked, giving her a weird look. "I thought you didn't like her at all!"

"I am not particularly fond of her, but I am still a girl, and I wouldn't like it if..."

"I think this is our que to leave" started Blaise. "I don't want to hear about girl power and stuff..."

Pansy rolled her eyes.

"Pansy, don't worry. I am not trying to hurt her." Said Draco, receiving a small smile from her.

"She did hurt you" commented Blaise.

"Weren't you just talking about him standing a chance?" asked Pansy.

"Right, lost track for a minute there." Said Blaise half- joking, half- serious.

"Whatever" sighed Pansy.

Blaise and Draco finally got to walk away.

"Let's get something straight" said Draco.

"Sure, what is it?" asked Blaise.

"You are my best friend and everything, but if you ever call me a kid again, I will make sure you won't be able to have any" said Draco, sounding casual, yet threatening. "Got it?"

"Got it" replied Blaise, amused. Why did he have to find everything funny?

**There you have it! It was a bit longer this time! Please leave a review and tell me what you think of it! Tell me what you like, (if there is something that you like) and what you don't like, if there is something that you don't like( constuctive critisism is welcome :). **

**REVIEW!**


	16. Chapter 16

**I uploaded as soon as i could, because school starts on Monday and i don't know how much time i will have then. So, for some chapters now, i've been wanting to get two characters of this story happens in this chapter, and i apologize if it is a little rushed.I just wanted to focus on Draco and Hermione in the following chapters. There is going to be a lot of Dramione from now on!Once again, thank you for alerting, favouriting and reviewing this story!**

**D****isclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

_~~~In the previous chapter~~~_

_"Look, I don't mind Draco liking … It is just that what he did was pretty low..." explained Pansy._

_"We are Slytherins. We are supposed to manipulate people…" Blaise paused there. "Wait a second. Are you angry for Hermione?" He asked, giving her a weird look. "I thought you didn't like her at all!"_

_"I am not particularly fond of her, but I am still a girl, and I wouldn't like it if..."_

_"I think this is our que to leave" started Blaise. "I don't want to hear about girl power and stuff..."_

_Pansy rolled her eyes._

_"Pansy, don't worry. I am not trying to hurt her." Said Draco, receiving a small smile from her._

Chapter 16.

The library could not possibly be called crowded at lunch that day. Hermione was the only person in there if you didn't count the librarian, who was being chat up by Filch right outside the entrance. Hermione rolled her eyes_. At least things are going_ _well for some people _she thought and turned back to her essay. She heard the door open, but didn't bother looking up, figuring that it was just Madam. Pince, who had finally decided to get back to work. She realized that she was wrong when she heard another pair of footsteps and Madam. Pince's annoyed voice. She must have wanted to stay outside, thus the mood change. She was perfectly happy two seconds ago. Hermione chuckled at the thought of a romance between Filch and Madam. Prince.

"How can I help you, dear?" she asked the "intruder", faking politeness.

"I would like to return a book" came a familiar voice.

It belonged to Pansy Parkinson. Hermione turned around, expecting to find Pansy shooting death glares her way once again, but that didn't happen. Pansy must have just noticed Hermione as well, because she stiffened and gave her a sympathetic look_. How on earth did she go_ _from death glares to that!_ Thought Hermione and kept eyeing Pansy curiously. Pansy did not look her way again though. She just handed the book, and left, leaving Hermione confused. She figured that her eyes had probably tricked her.

Still, deep in thought, Hermione exited the library and decided to walk around, until her next class. Lunch was nearly over, and she didn't feel hungry any way. She had almost made it to the yard when she met a sight that made her stop dead in her tracks.

There, in the middle of the corridor stood Draco, but he was not alone. Of course not! A girl, different from the one at breakfast, was standing against the wall, where she was "trapped" by Draco's hands, which were on either side of her. They seemed pretty intimate. Hermione didn't need to watch it going any further, so she just walked past them, not glancing their way while doing so, and then proceeded to walk down the corridor as fast as possible. As soon as she had passed the corner, her fast walk turned into a full sprint as she made her way through the students that had now left the Great Hall, trying to keep the tears from falling off of her eyes. She was followed by Pansy's eyes.

Draco and Blaise were sitting by the lake, when Pansy reached them. She did not talk to any of them until she was close enough. Then she proceeded to whack Draco's head.

"Hey! What was that for?" cried Draco.

"For being an insensitive jerk!" yelled Pansy. No one was close enough to hear them.

"He has been one since first year. Did you just notice?" asked Blaise, smirking.

"Wipe that smirk off of your face! You are no different!"

"Like you are the most pleasant person in the entire world!"

"Shut it Zabini!"

"Make me!" came a reply from Blaise, who was smirking once again.

"Oh, I will make you alright!" shouted Pansy and tried to through herself on him.

She was stopped by Draco's arms, which grabbed her from the waist, preventing her from doing so.

"Did you come hear to yell at me or kill Blaise?" he asked, clearly amused. He was aware that Blaise had a major crush on Pansy.

"For yelling at you, but I thought I could get him out of the way while doing so." Said Pansy, glaring at Blaise. She did not wait long for his response.

"I would like to see you try!" he was grinning, much like Draco, by now.

"Guys!" Draco stepped in. "Pansy, you were saying…"

"Right! I was saying that you are ridiculously stupid." She went on.

"I heard something about an insensitive jerk as well!" Blaise cut in, this time receiving a small smile from Pansy.

"Yeah, that too..." she said. "Didn't you see Hermione, after your little stunt in the corridor?"

"I only saw her walking past as." He said, sounding slightly disappointed. That earned him another whack on the head.

"When I saw her she running, trying to keep herself from crying." Pansy accused him.

"Really?" asked Draco, his eyes widening.

"You should put an end to it. She clearly has feelings for you. Stop giving her a hard time."

"Do you really believe that?"

"That you are giving her a hard time?" asked Pansy. "Of course I do!"

"Not that! The thing about her having feelings for me!" said Draco, grinning.

"She obviously does!" Pansy looked over at Blaise.

"I second that" he agreed.

"I have potions with her in the evening. I will set things right." Said Draco.

"Great!" squealed Pansy, earning weird looks from both boys. "What? I am happy for you. That is all!"

"Right…, anyway I am off. I have to finish some homework." Said Draco, and started walking away from them.

"I hope he tells her how he feels…" said Pansy.

"He really should." said Blaise. "Sometimes it is hard to tell someone how you feel about them though." He added, his eyes fixed on the lake.

"If you don't, you'll never know" she said. Her words were followed by silence.

She was about to leave when Blaise's words reached her. He was nearly whispering.

"Would you give me a chance?" he asked.

Pansy turned around to face him. "A chance to do what?" she asked.

"To prove you that I am not that irritating or insensitive..." he replied.

"I definitely would" said Pansy and smiled at him, an then at their now intertwined hands.

**It hadn't even crossed my mind for Pansy and Blaise to get together until i wrote that scene with Draco and them in the boy's dormitories, at the Slytherin common room. I just couldn't help it! So, what do you think? Leave a review and let me know! It means a lot!**

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	17. Chapter 17

**I unfortunately had no time to write a longer chapter, but i thought that this is better than nothing at all. I will probably upload again during the weekend. Thank you for your reviews, alerts and favourites!They always make my day!**

**Disclaimer:I don't own Harry Potter!**

_~~~In the previous chapter~~~_

_"You should put an end to it. She clearly has feelings for you. Stop giving her a hard time."_

_"Do you really believe that?"_

_"That you are giving her a hard time?" asked Pansy. "Of course I do!"_

_"Not that! The thing about her having feelings for me!" said Draco, grinning._

_"She obviously does!" Pansy looked over at Blaise._

_"I second that" he agreed._

_"I have potions with her in the evening. I will set things right."_

Chapter 17.

In the Gryffindor common room, everyone was chatting, playing or studying when Hermione entered. She looked around for any signs of Ginny, but noticed Cormac McLaggen coming her way instead.

She signed. _Here we go. _She didn't have the time to run away, so by the time she turned around Cormac was standing directly in front of her. She really wasn't in the mood for what was about to come.

"Hermione, here you are..." he started "I was wondering whether you'd like to..."

He was cut off. "Look McLaggen, now is really not the time…" said Hermione and rushed to leave. That is when she spotted Ginny, sitting by the fireplace along with a couple of students from her year. Hermione tapped her shoulder.

"Ginny, can you come for a moment?" she asked, and gestured towards the girls dormitories.

Ginny sensed that something was wrong from Hermione's voice and stood up immediately. Nodding to her friend's direction, she followed Hermione. As soon as the door closed behind them, Ginny turned to see Hermione sitting on the bed. She noticed that her eyes were somewhat moist.

"What happened?" she asked, sitting next to her friend.

"Remember what we saw at breakfast this morning?" asked Hermione.

"Yeah…" said Ginny, now aware of what this was about.

"Well, let's just say that I saw that scene once again, a different girl starring this time." Explained Hermione. "It always appears to happen when I am around to see it!" said Hermione, burying her face in a pillow.

"That is it! Hermione, can't you see?" asked Ginny, suddenly standing up. She looked at Hermione expectantly. _She was supposed to be the brightest which of their age!_

"I saw all I needed to see for today, thank you very much!" came Hermione's muffled voice through the pillow.

"He is trying to make you jealous!" squealed Ginny. Hermione's face finally parted from the pillow.

"Ginny, you are watching way too many movies!" she commented, before going back to the pillow.

"It makes sense, doesn't it?" asked Ginny. She looked over at Hermione.

"Do you really think that he likes me in that way?" she asked.

"Yes I do!" said Ginny right away.

Hermione stood up immediately and approached the door, soon followed by Ginny. They were now out, in the common room.

"He is such a jerk!" Hermione didn't even bother keeping her voice down. Harry looked their way, and Ginny shushed Hermione.

"I don't care" she said. It is not like they know who I am talking about."

Ginny opened her mouth to answer, when Hermione spotted Cormac approaching, once again, and groaned.

"What is it?" asked Ginny, looking around, alert.

"McLaggen" answered Hermione. He was now close enough.

"Hello, I am afraid I didn't get to finish my sentence before..." he started, using his "charming" voice. "What would you say about going out on Saturday?" he asked. Hermione was not paying much attention though; she was thinking that she really needed to get to class. Wait a minute! She now had potions with the Slytherins. She might as well have some fun _Why not?_

Coming back to reality, Hermione looked at Cormacc, and smiled at him. "How about you walk me to my next class?" she asked. Cormac flashed her a flirty smile and nodded.

"Let's go!" he said and took Hermione's bag off of her shoulder. "I'll take that." He then started walking towards the portrait, leaving Hermione to deal with a shocked Ginny.

"Please tell me that you won't..." started Ginny.

"Two can play that game" said Hermione and flashed Ginny a grin.

"Are you coming?" asked Cormac, from the common room entrance.

"I sure am" replied Hermione, walking his way.

_This can go either really well or extremely wrong._ Thought Ginny.

Draco was walking towards the potions classroom, debating with himself on what words he should use to tell Hermione that he liked her. He was nearly at the door of the classroom, when the realization hit him. There stood Hermione, along with that McLaggen guy. _His _Hermione. He had heard that Maclagen was after her, but didn't think that she would even go for him. There she was though, taking her bag from his hands. He was carrying her bag! Hermione turned his way for a second at that point, but the look in her eyes was blank. Draco watched as Maclagen smiled at her and she smiled back. He kept on talking to her, and he must have said something funny because she laughed. That bloody bastard!

He didn't need to see more. He stormed into the classroom, the moment Hermione was waving her…whatever he was to her, goodbye. She followed soon after him, a smirk playing on her lips. _Yeap, he deserved that.._

**Draco should have seen this coming. Most people use Ron in order to make Draco jealous in dramione fanfictions, but i didn't want any kind of romance going on between Hermione and Ron in this story.. So, what did you think of it? Let me know in a review. They really do mean a lot! Plus, i am sooo close to 50 reviews! *huge grin***

**REVIEW!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hello! Here is chapter eighteen! I tried to post yesterday but the site wouldn't cooperate( annoying!), so i uploaded as soon as i got the chance you once again for the alerts, favourites and reviews! I 've reached 50 reviews( thank you to Annie Wilde for being the fiftieth person to leave a review!) I am so happy!:D Well, enough of me, on with the story...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. **

_~~~ In the previous chapter~~~_

_Draco watched as Maclagen smiled at Hermione and she smiled back. He kept on talking to her, and he must have said something funny because she laughed. That bloody bastard!_

_He didn't need to see more. He stormed into the classroom, the moment Hermione was waving her…whatever he was to her, goodbye. She followed soon after him, a smirk playing on her lips. Yeap, he deserved that.._

Chapter 18.

Satisfied with Draco's reaction, Hermione entered the classroom and took a look around. Most of the student's already in , were Slytherins, sitting at the back of the classroom. That was were Draco was sat as well, not joining the conversation, but flipping through the pages of the school book with faked concentration. The seat next to him was empty, something that didn't go unnoticed by Hermione. She couldn't just strut around the classroom and take a seat next to the Slytherins though. No, that would be weird. But she managed to find a way around that problem. All she needed was a bit of luck.

Harry and Ron had the perfect timing. They walked in, right when Hermione made up her mind. She walked towards them and stood by their desk chatting, not taking a seat herself. Students kept entering the class and sitting down, causing almost every single sit to be occupied by the time Professor Snape made his appearance. Hermione had fortunately not run out of topics by then.

"Granger, take a seat immediately!" he sneered.

Hermione pretended to look around and then turned to Snape once again.

"But, there are no empty sea-" started Hermione, but did not manage to complete her sentence.

"Next to Malfoy, Granger! Now!" said Snape in an intimidating voice.

"But-" Hermione started to protest.

"Don't make me say it again!"

Hermione faked a sigh. "Alright" she said, and turned around after receiving sympathetic looks from her best friends. If only they knew! _Thank Merlin no one took the seat next to him! _Thought Hermione, as she made her way to the part of the class where the Slytherins usually sat. Who would have thought that she would sit next to Draco Malfoy for the second time during class in two weeks, this time voluntarily?

While taking a seat, her chocolate brown eyes met Draco's grey ones, which had been following her from the moment his name was heard. His eyes were cold and his face an emotionless mask, a mask that Hermione was determined to break. After she had sat down, Draco averted his gaze and didn't spoke a word, making Hermione wonder whether she should be amused or frustrated. It was definitely awkward, and she was wondering if she had been wrong to sit there. In addition, the looks that she was receiving from the nearby Slytherins were not helping her feel comfortable in any kind of way. She kept glancing his way, but didn't talk to him until it was time to set the cauldrons. Even then, she was playing safe.

"Can you hand me the snake fangs?" she asked and half expected to get yelled at. That didn't happen. Draco simply handed her the ingredient, without even looking her way, something that caused Hermione's annoyance.

"Do you recall how many times we have to stir clockwise?" she asked, and looked at him expectantly, determined to get some words out of him. Nothing. Was he "punishing" her with his silence? Well, she had done nothing wrong. She was going to try one more time. Hermione knocked over a bottle containing some silver substance, getting some drops on Draco's book.

"Stop that!" He whispered. Hermione stopped herself from grinning. _Success_

"Stop what?" she asked innocently.

"Trying to make chit chat!" exclaimed Draco.

"I was not-"

Draco cut her off. "I find it hard to believe that you didn't know the instructions to brewing this potion by heart. Moreover, you are not one to spill over ingredients. Give me some credit Granger! You are not the only one with a brain around here! The fact that the people you hang around with don't tend to use it is irrelevant! Stop acting immature!" Hermione was stunned. Where was this attack coming from?

"So, I am the one acting immature? It is not me that goes around punching people for no reason!" whispered Hermione and regretted it immediately. She shouldn't have gone back to that subject. It was just that Draco always managed to make her lose her temper.

Draco's face was blank. He appeared calm but Hermione could see his clenched fists, resting by his chair. He was not half as calm as he let out.

"It looks like you don't own a brain after all!" scowled Draco and turned his back at Hermione. Why did she like him again?

"This is because of the things I said the other night. Isn't it?" she asked, choosing not to mention what happened outside of the classroom.

"What do you mean "this"?" asked Draco.

"Your attitude! You are all hostile!" explained Hermione, trying to be quiet. A few heads were turned their way by now. They wouldn't be able to hear them, but still, all she needed now was Snape yelling at her.

"It has nothing to do with that!" whispered Draco. How couldn't she see that Cormack was the one to anger him!

"Of course it doesn't! You didn't appear to be affected at all! " Draco thought of Hermione's words for a split second. Was she referring to his hanging around with all those girls?

"What do you mean?" he asked, curious to know the answer.

Hermione wouldn't have mentioned it, but she was riled up. "You seemed perfectly okay, enjoying the companion of your fan club!" _So it did get to her,_ thought Draco and suppressed a smile. He couldn't help the smirk though.

"Well..." started Draco but Hermione went on. "You wouldn't be affected by anything! You are as emotional as a rock!" said Hermione, and cursed herself mentally. Why did she have to say that? She hadn't sit there to fight! Plus, she knew that the last statement wasn't true.

Draco could not believe it! As emotional as a rock? He had realized that he liked Hermione (maybe even more than like), he had figured out that one of her friends would play a nasty prank on her to get her back, defended her, got yelled at because she believed what that poor excuse of a friend of hers said, was insulted for no reason at all, had gotten hurt, seeked a way to get over her (it didn't work), tried to make her jealous just in case Hermione could ever have feeling for him , took part in conversations about emotions with Pansy, and had gotten furious a bit earlier, after watching her with Cormac. He was definitely not as emotional as a rock! And he was bitter to know that she thought he was. So the words left his mouth before he could stop them.

"It is like you said a while ago. It only matters when it comes from people you care about." He then looked away from Hermione.

_Ouch! That_ hurt!

**Longer than last time! Yay! :D I do believe that i need to stop the fighting between these two though.. Hm, that will happen soon enough.**

**So what did you think of it? Liked it? Hated it? Loved it? (a girl can dream) I would love to know!**

**REVIEW!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Hello once again! This is kind of a filler chapter, but the next chapter will be more exciting. Thank you for the reviews, favourites and alerts!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter!**

_~~~In the previous chapter~~~_

_"You wouldn't be affected by anything! You are as emotional as a rock!" said Hermione, and cursed herself mentally. Why did she have to say that? She hadn't sit there to fight! Plus, she knew that the last statement wasn't true._

_He was definitely not as emotional as a rock! And he was bitter to know that she thought he was. So the words left his mouth before he could stop them._

_"It is like you said a while ago. It only matters when it comes from people you care about." He then looked away from Hermione._

_Ouch! That hurt!_

_Chapter 19._

The _rest_ off the class period went by smoothly. It was hard not to since both Draco and Hermione ignored each other completely. The seats next to them might as well have been empty.

Draco was silently cursing himself. He was supposed to tell Hermione that he liked her, not turn her words against her and make her ignore him. _Well, that went as planned. _He had noticed the shock and slight sadness in her eyes before she turned her head in the opposite direction, but then again it could have been his imagination because seconds later, when he took a look at her face it was clear of any kind of emotion. That was the last time he looked her way. _Stupid, stupid, stupid!_ Why, why would he have said that? He really wanted to bang his head on the desk at that particular moment. He probably would if it wasn't for all the students around him._ There is always later!_ Thought Draco and started a staring contest with the floor.

Hermione could not be described to be in a lighter mood. She was accusing herself, much like Draco did to himself. If it hadn't been for her bringing up Draco punching Ron, the conversation may have not turned that ugly. On top of that she just had to accuse him of being as emotional as a rock! _Way to go Hermione! _She was surprised by Draco's last sentence but she did a good job hiding it. Or so she thought. That was not nice of him, but then again to say that she wasn't asking for it would be a lie. _He didn't mean it. _Hermione kept on repeating those words inside her head, trying to convince herself.

As soon as the bell rang, they both went for the door, their eyes not meeting once.

Draco made his way to the common room, dragging his feet. He thought about his current situation and felt disgusted by his actions. He was a Malfoy and Malfoys didn't drag their feet! They walked with their heads up high. He shrugged it off, realizing that he wasn't exactly acting like a Malfoy lately. Damn Granger! She was turning him into a pathetic wimp.

He was not watching were he was going so he bumped into a second year. The boy looked up and literally paled, realizing who he had bumped into. It was kind of comical.

"Watch it or I'll watch it for you!" sneered Draco at the frightened boy, who run away as fast as his legs could take him.

Pushing his last thought at the back of his mind, Draco smirked. It would definitely take a lot more than Hermione to turn him into that.

His bad mood had taken over again by the time he reached the entrance of the Slytherin common room. He barked the password and entered the common room, looking around for Blaise or Pansy.

Draco found them both sitting on an armchair next to the fire place. The same armchair! Both! Looks like Blaise had finally found the courage to make a move on Pansy. It must have gone well, since Pansy was practically sitting on his lap.

Draco threw his bag casually at a nearby sofa and turned to face his friends, a hint of amusement in his eyes.

"Did I miss anything?" he asked looking pointedly at the both of them.

"Pansy and I are officially a couple." Said Blaise, grinning like a maniac, causing Pansy to giggle.

"Congratulations!" Draco was genuinely happy for his friends. "Took you guys long enough!" he commented. "I was starting to believe that he would never build up the courage to tell you!" he said.

"Fortunately he did!" said Pansy, pecking Blaise on the lips. They looked sickening happy. It was nice for a change. Their arguments were beginning to get irritating.

Pansy turned back to Draco and eyed him curiously. "Talking about things that take people long to say, what happened? Did you tell her?"

"Well..." started Draco.

"I can not believe you!" sighed Pansy.

"I didn't get the chance to!" protested Draco.

Blaise came up with a reply to that quicker than his girlfriend. "You suck" he stated.

Pansy suppressed a chuckle at that. "That is true" she said. "You were supposed to tell her!"

"I know, but when I got to class she was standing there flirting with that Maclagen guy, which did not thrill me, and when she tried talking to me, I was not exactly friendly, resulting in us getting into another argument. One with me saying I don't care about her." _Wow, that sounded really bad!_

"You guys need to stop fighting!" said Pansy, glaring at her friend. "It is obviously not getting you anywhere!"

"Tell me about it!" murmured Draco. "It was not entirely my fault! She brought up me punching Weasley, complaining once again that I had no reason to! Not to mention that she called me as emotional as a rock!" said Draco. "Somehow, it just didn't seen right to confess my feelings for her at that moment!"

"Draco's right. Good timing is essential." Blaise cut in.

"Since when did you become an expert?" asked Pansy.

"Since it worked out for me" replied Blaise, smirking. That earned him an amused smile from Pansy and a snort from Draco.

"You do need to tell her" said Blaise, turning to Draco. "She won't be there forever."

Draco knew that.

**I thought i'd put some Blaise- Pansy interaction in there! Hope it came out alright. There are only two( maybe three) chapters of this story left to go. Is anyone else excited? I sure am! So, what did you think of this chapter? I would like to know!**

**REVIEW! **


	20. Chapter 20

**I am really sorry for not uploading sooner but i had no time. This week has been pretty busy. School is over now, though. This could only mean one thing :final exams. *sigh* Oh well, on with the story.**

**Disclaimer : I don't own Harry Potter.**

_~~~In the previous chapter~~~_

_"You guys need to stop fighting!" said Pansy, glaring at her friend. "It is obviously not getting you anywhere!"_

_"Tell me about it!" murmured Draco. "It was not entirely my fault! She brought up me punching Weasley, complaining once again that I had no reason to! Not to mention that she called me as emotional as a rock!" said Draco. "Somehow, it just didn't seen right to confess my feelings for her at that moment!"_

_"Draco's right. Good timing is essential." Blaise cut in._

_"Since when did you become an expert?" asked Pansy._

_"Since it worked out for me" replied Blaise, smirking. That earned him an amused smile from Pansy and a snort from Draco._

_"You do need to tell her" said Blaise, turning to Draco. "She won't be there forever."_

_Draco knew that._

Chapter 20.

Ginny and Hermione were sitting at the common room with a bunch of books and quills spread around them, most of them untouched. They were supposed to be working on their assignments; at least that is what they said to Ron. It was all it took for him to leave them alone and head out to find Seamus or Neville. Harry was absent as well, giving them the chance to talk. Even though the common room did not contain any of their friends, the two girls were still whispering, trying to keep a low profile.

"You two are really prone to arguments." Commented Ginny, rolling her eyes.

"I know! It never seems to end."

"I think that you are both just too stubborn for your own good." Said Ginny, and reached for an unfinished essay.

"I am not stubborn!" protested Hermione.

"Yes you are." Stated Ginny, scanning her essay.

"No I am not!"

"You really are!" The ginger found a quill and dipped the tip of it in ink, not looking up still.

"I am not!" cried out Hermione, crossing her arms.

Ginny finally looked up, her eyes full of amusement. "Do I need to continue? I think that your demonstration of denial proved my point." She said, grinning.

"Talking to you can be really irritating at times." Sighed Hermione.

"That is because I talk the truth. You love me anyway." Said Ginny and started writing.

"He sure is stubborn." Commented Hermione.

"Don't worry. I am sure he cares about you." Said Ginny.

"He said he doesn't."

Ginny dropped her quill and looked up. "He what?" she nearly shouted. "He told you that he doesn't care about you?" she asked.

"In a way." Replied Hermione. "It is more like he used something I've said to him before to prove his point. When the whole Ron incident happened and he had asked me why I cared about what Ron had called me and I didn't when it was him who was calling me names, I said that it was because I actually cared about Ron."

"So, how did he use that against you?" asked Ginny, somewhat confused.

"Him not being effected by me accusing him of all that stuff when he punched Ron came up, and I called him as emotional as a rock." Hermione was cut off by Ginny.

"Real smooth Hermione…"

"I couldn't help it!" protested Hermione, she was not happy she had said that either.

"Fine, go on."

"Well, he said that it only matters when it comes from people you care about." Said Hermione.

"You were kind of asking for it, but still! He is such a git!" said Ginny, feeling bad for her friend.

"Who is the git?" came Harry's voice from behind them. The two girls hadn't noticed him entering. Hermione turned around slowly, but didn't get the chance to answer that question. She didn't even get the chance to come up with a lie.

"Malfoy." Ginny was quick. Her voice was indifferent, as if it wasn't a bid deal. Hermione glared at her but Ginny mouthed "It is okay.", without Harry noticing. He looked concerned.

"What happened?" asked Harry, taking a seat next to them.

Hermione cleared her throat. "We got into an argument during potions. Nothing out of the ordinary." She said. That was true.

"What about?" asked Harry. Hermione was about to open her mouth in order to answer but Ginny beat her to it once again.

"About him punching Ron." She said. Hermione was confused. That might have come up but it was not what caused her and Draco to fight. That is when she caught that look in Ginny's eyes. The mischievous one. Hermione had been the victim of that look way too many times. It meant that Ginny was trying to get something.

Harry's eyes widened and he looked around briefly before turning back to the girls.

He looked rather guilty.

"There is something I have to tell you. I hate lies, and even if this is Malfoy we are talking about I can not take any more of this situation." He said. Ginny was nearly grinning, but Hermione was confused. What was he on about?

"Malfoy had a reason to punch Ron."

"He did?" chocked out Hermione.

"Yes. Ron was mad about you making a foul of him in the Great Hall and he was going to prank you in order to get you back. Malfoy must have overheard, so he yelled at Ron and punched him. I don't know why but he was defending you." Went on Harry.

A huge grin was plastered on Ginny's face. "I knew it!" she shouted. Harry appeared to be hopelessly confused and Hermione was just standing there with wide eyes looking into space.

Freaked out by the girl's reactions, Harry slowly got up. Before turning around he looked at Hermione.

"I am really sorry for not telling you sooner, but Ron asked me not to." He said and excited the common room.

Hermione was lost. Lost because of how wrong she was when it came to both Ron and Draco. Lost and guilty. She had accused Draco for no reason, and had yelled at him, when all he had done was try to protect her from a nasty prank one of her best friends was planning to pull on her expense. Hermione felt sick.

"Why are you so glum?" asked Ginny. "He was looking out for you after all!"

"I know Ginny, but look at how I treated him! I feel so guilty!"

"Didn't he try to tell you the truth?" asked Ginny.

"No, he denied punching Ron for no reason, but he never spoke a word of what happened." Said Hermione. "Why didn't he?" Hermione questioned herself.

"If he had, would you have believed him?"

"I don't know." Whispered Hermione. She realized that she might have believed Ron. Even after what he had said. Because Malfoy would always be Malfoy and Ron would always be her best friend. How wrong could she have been?

"I have to apologize." Said Hermione.

"You go do that and I will go take care of Ron." Said Ginny. She was seriously mad at her brother.

"Deal."

The following day would surely be an interesting one.

**The end of this story is getting closer! I will try to update as soon as i can , but my finals are less than a week away, which means that i have just a few days left to get ready for the two subjects i will be writing exams for next week. Physics and Biology are first. Oh, joy!:( I am also sitting for the C1 english certificate this weekend , so yeah i won't have that much time to write. I will try my best to do so though.:) I would really appreciate it if you left a review! I welcome constructive critisism, since i would like to improve my writing, so don't hesitate to point out the mistakes that i might have made. **

**So, what do you think of this chapter?**

**REVIEW!**


	21. Chapter 21

**I found some time to write. Yay! I apologize if there are any mistakes but i barely had time to write, proofreading was not really an option.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

Ron woke up really early that morning and got dressed as quickly as possible. Harry had informed him the previous night that Ginny and Hermione knew the truth. _What a great friend he was!_ He was hoping that they were not going to figure it out, with Malfoy not ratting him out and everything but he hadn't thought that Harry would tell them! He was quite upset but when he had opened his mouth to speak Harry started yelling at him, telling him that he had had enough and that he was not going to get yelled at just because Ron was acting like an utter moron. That had done the trick and shut Ron up. He was not expecting Harry to have his back today. Ron's plan was simple. Exit the common room before anyone else wakes up and avoid people that could bring trouble.

It seemed fairly easy. He had already closed the door to the boy's dormitories behind him when he noticed a redhead sitting on a hair in the middle of the common room, wide awake and alert.

"Going somewhere big bro?" asked Ginny, in a fake sweet voice.

Ron cursed under his breath. He was screwed. Deciding that it was too late to go back in the dormitories, he made a run for the common room entrance. He was nearly there when he was tackled to the ground by his baby sister. That is what happens when a girl grows up with six older brothers. Ginny could probably beat up half the male population of Hogwarts. She usually just had better things to do,. "Didn't think so!" she sneered.

Ron just groaned. His elbow was twisted in a weird manner and all he wanted at that moment was his sister's weight off of it.

"Get off!" came his muffled voice from where his face had collided with the floor.

"Oh, I will…!"

Ginny got her wand out of her robes and stood up. Ron didn't have the chance to though; Ginny's wand was already pointed at him. "Petrificus Totalus!" Now Ron would just have to stay there. His eyes widened. Ginny was just thankful that he couldn't speak.

"I've decided that I am against violence so I am going to sort this out in another way." She started. If Ron could snort, he would have. "Fine, that is a lie. The only reason why you will be able to walk tomorrow is because the team needs you for the next quidditch match. I being the great person that I am have decided not to bruise you all over. Instead I will go with the old fashion way, Mum's way…" said Ginny, a sly smirk forming on her lips.

The look on Ron's eyes could only be described as terrified. That meant that he was in for a huge lecture. His being on a full body bind did not exactly relax him. Well, it was better than bruises.

"Ronald Bilious Weasley! You are such a disgrace. How could you do that to Hermione! Unbelievable! Hermione is one of your best friends and she had always been there for you! However all it took you to start plotting against her was a fight. A fight that was your fault to start with! And then you did not hesitate to blame it all to Malfoy and play the role of the innocent victim who got beaten up for no reason! Malfoy turns out to be a far more decent person than you are! I am ashamed to call you my brother!"

Ginny took a deep breath and went on. She was now pacing around the room, only stopping to glare at the motionless figure on the floor that was her brother.

"Don't you posses a brain? Of course not! If you did, you wouldn't be on the ground right now! Sneaking out? Seriously? And you have the nerve to call yourself a Gryffindor?" asked Ginny.

This was going to take a while.

Three hours later Hermione was sitting at the Gryffindor table, nervously flipping through the Daily Profit's pages, occasionally scanning the Great Hall with her eyes. She was not feeling so well.

"Good morning!" said Ginny as she sat down next to Hermione. She reached for the pancakes as Hermione took her eyes off of the newspaper and looked her way.

"It doesn't seem like a good one to me..." sighed Hermione.

"Are you still trying to think of a way to apologize?" asked Ginny.

"Yeap. And it is not going so well." Answered Hermione, stealing a glance at the Slytherin table. Same as 30 seconds ago, Draco wasn't there.

"You will think of way." Ginny reassured her, before locking eyes with a black haired boy that was coming their way. Harry took a seat as next to Ginny , he looked amused.

"Don't you think it is high time you got him out of his misery?" he asked.

"It has only been three hours!" protested Ginny.

"Ginny, we both know that you will have to eventually, classes start at about twenty minutes, you can't keep him that way forever!" said Harry in a matter of factly voice. He was still smiling nonetheless.

Hermione was confused. "What are you guys talking about?" she asked.

Ginny turned her way and flashed her sly grin. "Harry borrowed me his invisibility cloak." She stated, still grinning.

"Ok…." Hermione couldn't see where this was going. "Is there a particular reason why that makes you so cheery?"

"Of course there is! Let's just say that my dear brother has been using it for the last three hours..."

Hermione's features hardened at the mention of Ron. "In order to do what?" she asked.

"Lie motionlessly on the floor…" said Ginny and flashed Hermione another grin.

"Full body bind?" asked Hermione, clearly amused.

"Yeap, they won't find him if I don't lift the spell."

"You will lift the spell, I need someone to sit by at charms class!" said Harry. "I think he learned his lesson!" Both girls ignored him.

"Nicely done." Commented Hermione.

"I know. I feel proud of my self." Said Ginny.

"You two are so cruel!" commented Harry.

"Hermione has every right to be mad at Ron." Said Ginny.

"What about you?" asked Harry.

"I am family! I always have the right to be mad at Ron!" Both girls laughed at that.

"Still…"

"Oh. Don't play superior Harry! You are the one that burst out laughing as soon as you caught sight of him on the ground! Not to mention that you offered your cloak to conceal him!" Said Ginny accusingly, but smiling.

"It was kind of funny. You looked as if you were about to murder him!" Harry defended himself. "Oh, and I didn't exactly offer to give you my cloak, it is more like you demanded I gave it to you." Harry corrected her.

"Same thing!"

Harry just rolled his eyes.

**There you have it! I should probabaly get back to studying math *sigh*. A few more weeks to go and then i will have plenty of time to write!:) So, what did you think of it? Liked it? Disliked it? Do you think that Ginny came out a bit too strong when it came to her lecturing Ron? I mean, she is his sister after all...Let me know!**

**REVIEW!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Please don't hate me. I know that it has been quite a while since I last uploaded but these past two weeks have been hectic! I was studying all day. I want to thank you for all the alerts, reviews and favorites! They make me really happy! I had originally planned this story to be 22 chapters, so this would be the last one, but I decided to extend it just a little bit, because the scenes of this story would just write themselves and I didn't want to cut anything out. So, there will be one or two more chapters. It depends on whether I decide to write an epilogue or not. Let me know what you think of that.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

_~~~~~In the previous chapter~~~~_

"_Oh. Don't play superior Harry! You are the one that burst out laughing as soon as you caught sight of him on the ground! Not to mention that you offered your cloak to conceal him!" Said Ginny accusingly, but smiling._

"_It was kind of funny. You looked as if you were about to murder him!" Harry defended himself. "Oh, and I didn't exactly offer to give you my cloak, it is more like you demanded I gave it to you." Harry corrected her._

"_Same thing!"_

Chapter 22.

Harry just rolled his eyes.

It was nearly noon and Hermione hadn't come across Draco to that point. Where could he possibly be? She hadn't seen him during classes or around the corridors all morning, and he had been absent during breakfast. How was she supposed to apologize if she couldn't find him!

Well she had not been exactly searching for him. Keeping an eye open for any sighs of him would be more like it, but it was clearly not working!

Hermione was currently sulking under a tree, at the school yard. She had a free period, and she would usually use them for studying but somehow she did not exactly feel like studying at that particular moment. Having nothing to do, she just stood there accusing herself of being a horrible person, allowing the guilt to reach her. No one was there to help her get her mind off of all those thoughts. All of her friends had classes! That is what you get when you don't choose the some subjects as them. Reminding herself that an hour of being alone was better that stepping a foot in that pointless class called Divination, she went back to her previous thoughts of misery, trying to think of a way to apologize. Hermione just couldn't think of anything. She had been debating with herself on what to say during Ancient Ruins, Defense Against the Darks Arts and History of Magic, but she still hadn't made up her mind .

Even though she was really upset over Ron being such a lousy friend and the fact that she had been accusing Draco for no reason, she couldn't help the slight smile that would creep on her lips every now and then. That was because every time she was reminded of what Ron did, she would also be reminded of how thoughtful Draco had been without her even being aware of it. That is when the guilt would kick off again. Damn her life!

Her thoughts were interrupted when the sun that was hitting the right side of her face was blocked. Hermione looked up to meet the sight of Pansy looking down at her.

"What's wrong with you?" asked Pansy, eyeing Hermione up and down.

"I don't know what you mean but I am really not in the mood right now..." replied Hermione.

"Look Granger, I am not here to fight. I just noticed you being a mess and since I have nothing better to do…"

"Do you have a free period as well?" asked Hermione, relieved that she wouldn't have to argue with the girl in front of her.

"Yeap" Pansy leaned against the tree. "You didn't answer my question. You look all depressed.. What happened?"

"Why should I tell you?" asked Hermione. "You are not my friend or anything..."

"True" Replied Pansy, shrugging her shoulders.

The Slytherin stood straight and turned to go, but stopped when she heard Hermione's hesitant voice.

"Hey, Parkinson!" called Hermione "Do you happen to know where Malfoy is?"

Pansy turned around slowly, trying to suppress a smile. "Of course I do." She replied simply.

"Um…can you tell me?" asked Hermione, her voice was a bit louder that a whisper.

By know a knowing smirk was plastered on Pansy's face.

"I didn't quite catch that. You will have to speak up." Said Pansy. She noticed that Hermione had lowered her eyes, and she couldn't help but feel sorry for teasing her.

"Can you tell me where Malfoy is?" asked Hermione once again, this time louder.

"Sure." Said Pansy, flashing the confused Gryffindor a smile. Hermione expected Pansy to mock her and was stunned by her friendly tone of voice. "The Slytherin team has some kind of an intense quidditch practice schedule set out for today. They will be on the quidditch pitch most of the day. I don't even want to know how they managed to get excused from all the classes. I believe it has something to do with having a new Chaser joining the team in the middle of the quidditch season. I am so happy for Blaise! Anyway, I think that they will be done by seven. Why don't you try looking for Draco then?" asked Pansy, still smiling.

Hermione was standing there, mouth open, staring at Pansy in disbelief. Pansy chuckled.

"It may be hard to believe, but I do help others sometimes." Said Pansy.

Hermione smiled at her, though a bit hesitantly. Pansy might not be that bad after all. It looks like her belief that all Slytherins were horrible people was proven wrong once again. Pansy may had been mean to her in the past but Hermione knew for a fact that people change.

"Thanks."

"No problem." Pansy turned around once again and started walking towards the castle.

_Well, at least now I know how to find him. _Thought Hermione.

Ginny had just plopped down on the one of the sofas in the Gryffindor common room when Hermione entered the portrait hole.

Hermione was on Ginny's side in no time at all.

"Guess who helped me figure out where Draco has been."

"Who?" asked Ginny, sitting up.

"Pansy Parkinson!"

Ginny's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

"Absolutely" replied Hermione, smiling.

"So what did she say?"

"Apparently, the Slytherin team has a new Chaser, so they will be practicing with him on the quidditch pitch for the biggest part of the day." Said Hermione.

"Who is the new Chaser?" asked Ginny. She was not exactly thrilled with the news. Slytherin had a pretty decent team that year, and she would prefer it if it didn't get any better.

"Zabini."

"I hope he sucks"

"I doubt it. He wouldn't have been accepted in the middle of the season if he did." Commented Hermione.

"They might. He is Malfoy's best friend."

"They wouldn't risk it. The Slytherins like to win. Plus, it doesn't necessarily work that way. I mean, look at Ron. He is Harry's best friend but he is not in the team just because of that. If Ron was not good, Harry would have been a fair captain and would have chosen someone else."

"Who says that Malfoy is a fair captain?" asked Ginny.

"I thought you were on Draco's side."

"I believe that you would make a great couple, but that doesn't mean that I think the Slytherins wouldn't try anything sly. That is their thing!" exclaimed Ginny.

"Enough with that!" said Hermione. "Harry is the one that should be worrying about that!"

"Speaking of which.." Started Ginny and looked pointedly at Hermione's left.

There stood the boy who lived looking at them and saying something to Ron who was right beside him. Ron looked glum. After listening to what Harry had to say, he nodded and followed his best friend, heading towards the girl's direction.

"Hey" started Harry, receiving curious looks from Hermione and Ginny.

"Hello, Harry! Why did you bring that with you?" asked Ginny, gesturing to Ron's direction. Her voice was hard.

"He came here to apologize" said Harry, glaring at Ginny slightly. He looked over at Hermione who just nodded.

"Let's hear it." Was all that she said.

Ron had his eyes glued to the floor. As soon as he heard Hermione's words he lifted his head and looked at her for the first time. Harry nagged him, worried that his friend would back out of it.

"I am sorry." Came Ron's practically whispered words.

"For which one of all the things you did?" asked Hermione, her voice indifferent.

"For everything! I shouldn't have done any of that. I shouldn't have called you a mudblood! I was really upset that night. I regretted it the moment I said it, but when you made a fool out of me in the Great Hall the next day, I couldn't think rationally."

"When could you to begin with?" asked Ginny. Harry shushed her so that Ron could go on. Hermione just kept standing there saying nothing.

"Back then getting you back for it sounded like a good idea, but it wasn't, I know that now. Then Malfoy punched me and I was in the hospital. If we had told you why he had punched me, you would have found out all about the plan, and I was afraid that you wouldn't talk to me again. I realized then that this whole thing was not right, so I didn't push it any further. I just hoped that you wouldn't find out and that we could keep on being friends.. It was Malfoy after all, I guess I didn't feel the need to be fair towards him. I thought that it didn't matter."

"It did matter though! I accused him of so many things that night, when all he had done was protect me from a prank that a person I considered one of my best friends was going to pull on my expense!"

"Hermione, this is Malfoy we are talking about!" said Ron.

"That is not an argument!"

"You are right." Sighed Ron. "Will you forgive me?" asked Ron.

Hermione could see that the ginger was being sincere.

All of them were now looking at Hermione, waiting for her answer.

"Yes." Said Hermione finally.

Ron and Harry grinned while Ginny just rolled her eyes.

"But that doesn't mean I trust you. You will have to work for that." Said Hermione. She felt the need to make that clear, since Ron's stunts had put her in a lot of trouble lately. He would always be one of her friends , because even though he had a bad side, he had a great, caring one as well.

"Fair enough. I will take it!" replied Ron , still grinning.

"As if you have a choice!" remarked Ginny, though now smiling at her brother too. Harry ruffled Ron's hair and laughed. "She is right. Make sure you stay out of trouble!" he said. Hermione couldn't help a smile.

_Only one thing left to be sorted out._

**There you have it. It was a relatively long chapter. (for my standards that is) I will try to upload as soon as I can but I don't know when that will be, since Ancient Greek is up next when it comes to my exams and let me tell you that it is not half easy. I will be studying nonstop for the next few days . What are your thoughts on this chapter? Oh, and do you want me to have a quidditch match in the story? I have started talking about quidditch in the dialogues so I think that would be appropriate. Let me know what you think!****It is time for this ridiculously long author's note to come to an end. **

**REVIEW! (Reviews = Motivation= Me writing more= Quicker chapters)**


	23. Chapter 23

**School is over but I didn't have the time to update because my summer classes began. Yeap, I am taking English classes this summer :( So, this is chapter 23 and I have the next and final chapter almost done. Yay! I might post it on Sunday. It depends on how much time I'll have and how many reviews this chapter will get. So, review away!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

The armchair next to the fireplace was occupied by Hermione, who was reading a book. She glanced over at the clock.

15:40

Hermione sighed and went back to reading her book. At some point she was interrupted by Ginny, who emerged from the girl dormitories, her bag slung over her left shoulder.

"Seriously?" asked the ginger, taking a look at her friend.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Hermione, after carefully folding the page she was at.

"Are you just going to wait until the time to put 'operation apologize' into action comes?"

"I can not believe you just used the word 'operation'! How old are you again?"

Ginny just rolled her eyes. "I like it."

"Well, I don't!"

"Oh, don't worry! The name will have hopefully changed by tonight." Said Ginny, smirking.

"I don't want to know." Said Hermione and was about to open her book once again when she heard Ginny's voice.

"It is going to be called: Operation get Draco and Hermione together" squealed Ginny

Hermione run up to her friend and clapped a hand over Ginny's mouth.

"Ginny!" hissed Hermione. "Keep your voice down!"

"There is no one close enough to hear!" said Ginny, looking around, but after receiving one of Hermione's death glares, she lowered her head and replied.

"Fine!"

"Thank you!" said Hermione, relieved.

"You didn't answer my question though. Are you just going to sit here and wait?"

"I am done with classes for the day. There is nothing wrong with just sitting in the common room. Anyway, I am not waiting. I am just hanging around expecting a certain time to come." Replied Hermione in a matter of factly tone of voice.

"That is called waiting!" said Ginny, smirking.

Hermione just rolled her eyes. "Whatever…" Noticing that Ginny was still standing there she lifted her head and asked. "Weren't you going somewhere?"

"Oh shoot! Class starts in three minutes!" exclaimed Ginny, looking at her wrist watch, before storming out of the common room. Hermione chuckled.

As soon as her friend was out of sight Hermione turned to look at clock that she had placed on the feet of the armchair.

17: 36

She groaned. _This was going to be a long wait!_

By six Hermione had given up on reading the book, and was sat by the window, lost in her thoughts, most of them concerning a blonde boy with captivating grey eyes. That is where Harry and Ron found her a while later, after entering the common room. They looked at each other and yelled simultaneously. "HERMIONE!"

The brunette, who had been looking into space jumped up and looked around, her eyes alert. Taking in her surroundings she frowned.

"Well, that was uncalled for." She commented.

"You kind of needed it." Said Harry, eyeing her curiously. "What have you been thinking?" he asked.

"Um...nothing!" said Hermione quickly. "Wait, didn't you two have to finish an essay?" she asked.

"Yeah. We are done." Replied Ron.

"How is that possible? I thought that you would head to the library at five o'clock. How come you managed to finish in such a short time?"

"Hermione, it is ten past seven." Said Harry.

"What?" asked Hermione, a bit too loudly. "This can't be possible!"

She glanced over at the clock and read 19:12.

"Sweet Merlin! I have to go!"

She had originally planned to go to the quidditch pitch and meet Draco there but that was quite far away from the Gryffindor common room for Hermione to make it of time. She would have to meet him somewhere between the Slytherin common room and the pitch. Still, the dungeons, where the Slytherin common room was located were not exactly near to the Gryffindor tower.

Not glancing back at her two friends Hermione sprinted to the common room entrance and exited the portrait hole.

"What the hell was that about?" asked Ron.

"I don't know, mate. And frankly, I am not sure I want to. Hermione has been acting all weird lately." Replied Harry.

"I guess we will find out eventually." Said Ron, plopping down at a nearby armchair.

"Right."

Hermione realized that it would probably take some time for Slytherin's team players to start heading back to their common room. Wouldn't they shower or something? Hermione hoped so. She always demanded Harry and Ron to keep a ten feet radius whenever they came back from quidditch practice.

Thinking of that she slowed down her pace and relaxed a bit. Not for long. Soon enough the nervousness came back. She started contemplating what she was going to say in her mind once again. This entire thing was driving Hermione crazy. Couldn't she just say a plain sorry and walk away? She seriously considered doing exactly that if words kept refusing to come out of her mouth. Nothing wrong with having a back up plan. Right?

Hermione groaned. This was not like her! She was a Gryffindor! She wasn't supposed to be afraid! _What is happening to me?_ She asked herself and the answer didn't take long to creep into her head. Draco Malfoy. _That is what is happening to you!_ Keeping another groan of frustration from escaping, Hermione took some deep breaths and reassured herself that everything was going to be fine. _Unless he makes fun of me… _Hermione really needed to stop thinking like that.

She had no more time to argue with herself though, because the sound of footsteps made her understand that she had probably covered all the distance that was needed while walking. She was down at the dungeons. Not that close to the Slytherin common room (which was kind of a relief for her), but at the dungeons nonetheless.

Hermione looked around the corner and spotted a handful of Slytherins walking down the corridor, some still wearing their quidditch uniforms and all carrying their broomsticks. Yeap, that was definitely the house's quidditch team, but there was no sign of Draco. The group walked pass Hermione, not noticing her, so she decided to wait there for Draco to walk by. He had to in order to get to the common room. She would just have to keep an eye out , so that she wouldn't miss him.

Feeling like a stalker was something that Hermione couldn't help. Here she was, waiting down at the dungeons for Draco to walk pass her, so that she could talk to him. And not for the first time at that. Trying to convince herself that what she was doing could not be considered pathetic, she caught a glimpse of blonde and turned her attention back at the corridor.

Draco was now visible, walking along another person, probably that Zabini guy. That only troubled Hermione. What was she supposed to do now that he wasn't alone? Wouldn't it be awkward if his friend was there? _Maybe I should just present myself and hope that Blaise will take the hint and leave. If not I will just ask him to. I can do that.. Okay. I can not and will not do that! _Hermione sighed. She soon realized that while she had been trying to decide what to do, the two boys had just walked pass her and would soon be out of her sight.

_Okay, Hermione. It is now or never!_

**That's it for this chapter! Don't forget to review and let me know what you thought of it! Or what you think of this story in general, since it is coming to an end. I would be really excited if you did that! If this chapter gets a decent amount of reviews I will try to find the time to update on early Sunday! (It might be Saturday night. It depends on where you live!) See that blue button?**

**REVIEW!**


	24. Chapter 24

**Here is the last chapter of this story! I want to thank everyone for putting this story to your alerts and favorites! I also want to thank you for the reviews! They really mean a lot to me!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

_~~~In the previous chapter~~~_

Draco was now visible, walking along another person, probably that Zabini guy. That only troubled Hermione. What was she supposed to do now that he wasn't alone? Wouldn't it be awkward if his friend was there? _Maybe I should just present myself and hope that Blaise will take the hint and leave. If not I will just ask him to. I can do that... Okay. I can not and will not do that! _Hermione sighed. She soon realized that while she had been trying to decide what to do, the two boys had just walked pass her and would soon be out of her sight.

_Okay, Hermione. It is now or never!_

**Chapter 24**

Hermione took a deep breath, as well as a step forward. Draco and Blaise would now be able to see her if they decided to turn around. Since that was probably not going to happen, Hermione gathered all her courage and called out to them, while taking a few more steps their way, almost reaching them.

"Malfoy! Wait up!" she called and saw both Draco and Blaise turning around to look at her.

Draco's eyes widened in surprise for a second, but he soon restored his usual expression. Hermione could see the hint of a smile playing on his lips, though. Blaise didn't appear to be surprised. He just stood there and looked at Hermione, and then back at Draco, with a knowing smirk.

Hermione was standing right by them by that point. Trying to hide the slight blush that was making its way to her cheeks, she focused her attention on Draco.

"Umm…I would like to talk to you for a second." She stammered and heard Blaise chuckling from her left. Draco turned to glare at him, and Hermione looked Blaise's way too, surprised.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Draco asked his friend silently, yet threateningly, while still glaring at him.

"Not really." Said Blaise, still smiling. "But I will leave anyway. I can tell when my presence is unwanted."

With that, Blaise patted Draco on the back, and turned to leave. He took his time, walking slowly, while whistling at the same time. Draco just rolled his eyes and turned back to face Hermione. His eyes were soft and she couldn't help but get lost in those calming pools of silver. Draco brought her back to reality, a few moments later.

"Hermione?" he whispered, and he looked concerned.

"What? Oh, yes. Right!" she stammered. She kept zoning out lately, and the blonde boy that was standing right in front of her was definitely the one to blame! Getting her thoughts back on track she decided to just let it all out.

"I came here to apologize. I now know that you did not punch Ron without a reason. I am so sorry for saying all those nasty stuff to you! You didn't deserve all that, and I take them back!"

"Hermione…" said Draco, but Hermione made a dismissive gesture with her hand and went on.

"I feel so guilty! All you did was protect me from the prank that they wanted to play on me! I don't know why you did that, but I want you to know that I really appreciate it!"

"Hermione…" tried Draco once again, taking a step towards her... He was smiling slightly.

Hermione was on a roll though. And once she started ranting nothing could stop her. At that point she had stopped thinking about what she was saying. She was solemnly focused on how close Draco was to her. There was only a small gap separating them and she was struggling to keep a calm expression.

"I suppose Ginny was right. I was persistent on acknowledging you as the bad guy without even realizing it. Maybe there was a part of me that was afraid of getting to know the better side of you, intimidated by the possibility of -" she was cut off by the feeling of slight pressure against her lips.

Draco had closed the gap between them entirely during her last sentence. Hermione's heart was beating a mile a minute and she was almost positive that Draco could hear it. The kiss was gentle and swift. Hermione, caught of guard, didn't have time to respond before Draco pulled away. He cocked his head to the side and looked at her straight in the eyes, his stormy grey one's soft with a hint of worry in them. Hermione noticed that._ Does he think that I don't want to kiss him?_ No matter what Draco's worries were, they were washed away when Hermione smiled at him.

His lips were back at hers in no time and this time Hermione got the chance to kiss him back. That kiss was more urgent, more intense. Hermione slid her arms around Draco's neck and he rested his on her waist, deepening the kiss. Hermione couldn't believe how right it felt, their lips moving together perfectly. Both she and Draco were unbelievably relieved to know that the other person liked them back.

They might have stayed like that for a long time to come, weren't they interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat. Draco and Hermione separated immediately, looking around for the source of the noise. Right in front of them stood Professor McGonagall.

"Kissing in the corridors is deemed highly inappropriate."

McGonagall's eyes widened and she nearly chocked when she realized who she was talking to! Merlin's beard! The two students that she had caught kissing were Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy! What on earth had she missed? In all of her years in Hogwarts she had never been that surprised.

"Miss Granger?" she asked, still unable to believe in her eyes.

Hermione was as red as a tomato by now. Her eyes were focused on the floor and she was still breathless. Taking a deep breath, she looked up at her Professor. McGonagall was now certain. That was definitely Hermione Granger. Turning Draco's way, she saw that he was as calm as ever. He was looking at Hermione, his lips twitching up to an amused smile. He whispered something, that McGonagall didn't manage to hear, at her, and Hermione's face flushed even redder.

Professor McGonagall was way too shocked to have them punished. She only managed to compose one sentence.

"Back to your common rooms." She nearly whispered.

Both Draco and Hermione turned to leave, each of them towards a different direction but she noticed them smiling at each other before turning around. She followed them with her eyes. Professor McGonagall had always thought that Hermione would end up with either Harry Potter or Ron Weasley. Remembering how the two students had been looking at each other mere moments ago, she smiled. Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger might make a good couple after all.

Hermione could not get her muscles to cooperate. No matter what, she would be smiling. Hugely at that. Closing the door behind her after entering her dormitory, she found Ginny sitting on her bed, reading a magazine. As soon as the ginger caught sight of Hermione she straightened up and eyed her curiously. She then broke into a knowing smirk, followed by a loud squeal.

"He kissed you, didn't he?" shouted Ginny.

Hermione didn't bother covering her friend's mouth, she felt like squealing herself! Instead she nodded.

"Oh my god!" Ginny hugged Hermione. "I am so happy for you! I knew this was going to happen!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Say it! You know you want to!"

Ginny grinned even more. "I told you so!" Hermione chuckled, she was glad that her friend had been right.

"So, you are officially a couple now, aren't you?"

"I don't know..." Hermione furrowed her eyebrows.

"What do you mean?' asked Ginny.

"Well, we didn't get the chance to talk…"

"Too busy snogging?" asked Ginny and ducked to avoid the pillow that Hermione had thrown her way.

"No! McGonagall caught us kissing!" admitted Hermione.

Ginny burst out laughing. "I wish I had been there to take a look at the poor woman! It must have been priceless!"

"She did appear to be really surprised, but she let us go."

"Really? She must have been too shocked."

"It is likely..." smiled Hermione.

"You can't stop smiling, can you?" asked Ginny, giggling.

"Nope…"

In the Slytherin common room, Pansy was jumping up and down. She hugged Draco and squealed once again.

"I am so happy for you!" she said.

"We kind of got that." Laughed Blaise, while patting Draco at the back. "I am happy for you too, mate!" said Blaise.

"Merlin! I can not believe Draco Malfoy is now dating Hermione Granger!" said Pansy, smiling.

She noticed the lost look in Draco's eyes and frowned slightly. "You did ask her out, right?" she asked.

"Umm...not exactly. I told you guys! McGonagall appeared and I didn't get the chance to talk to Hermione."

"I think she got the message!" said Blaise wiggling his eyebrows.

Pansy wacked him in the head. "It is not like that!"

"I think I made it pretty obvious that I want to be with her. So did she." Draco noticed the murderous glare of Pansy and went on. "But I will ask her out tomorrow."

Pansy sighed. "Boys…"

The Great Hall was packed the following morning and the sound of chatting could be heard, coming from all directions. Everyone appeared to be in a great mood, involving the stuff.

Ginny and Hermione made their way to the Gryffindor table, while whispering. Ginny took a seat next to her brother, and started filling her plate. Hermione couldn't help herself from casting glances the Slytherin's table way, while taking a seat next to Harry, opposite to Ginny and Ron. She found what she was looking for immediately. As if feeling her eyes on him, Draco lifted his head and as soon as he noticed her, he smiled. It was a real genuine smile and it made Hermione's heart flutter. She must have blushed because he smirked at her teasingly. Rolling her eyes, she smiled back and turned back to face her friends.

Ginny was giving Hermione her usual knowing smirk, but Hermione didn't mind. Harry and Ron didn't appear to have noticed. Ron was stuffing himself and Harry was reading the Daily Profit. Hermione soon found herself engaged in conversation with her friends over matters that she did not find the least bit interesting. _Well, it is better than staring at the Slytherin table all day… _She thought.

Harry's eye suddenly widened and he seemed to be staring at something behind Ginny and Ron.

"What the hell is Malfoy doing?" he asked and as soon as Hermione heard the name she followed Harry's eyes. There was Draco Malfoy strutting across the Great Hall. Nothing seemed off. That is when Hermione realized that his eyes were fixed on the Gryffindor table. More specifically, her! _What the hell is he doing indeed!_

Most of the students had noticed him walking in what appeared to be the wrong direction by then and were looking at him, curious. What on earth was a Slytherin doing heading towards the Gryffindor table? And Draco Malfoy of all people! This had to be serious.

After what felt like centuries he was finally standing right next to Hermione, looking down at her. All she could do was stare at him in shock. Was he doing what she thought he was doing?

Without speaking a word, he sat right next to her, on the side that was not occupied by Harry. _Yeap...He was doing exactly what she thought he was doing!_

Every single person in the Great Hall was looking their way by then, eyes widened and mouths open. Harry and Ron were glaring at him, but were still too shocked to speak. Ginny was just smiling.

Draco did not appear to be the slightest bothered by all the attention. It is like he couldn't see them at all. His only focus was Hermione and her chocolate brown eyes that were staring at him curiously. All eyes focused on them, he leaned in and kissed Hermione on the lips. It was just a peck but it almost caused a heart attack to most of the students and the stuff. Whispers broke from every direction and a couple of shrieks were even heard. Neville, who sat four seats away practically fainted.

Draco chuckled. He was still looking at Hermione. She seemed surprised but he could tell that she was suppressing a smile.

"I forgot to ask you something yesterday."

"What is it?" asked Hermione. She was feeling kind of uncomfortable, having everyone focused on what they were saying, but decided to just ignore it , like Draco did.

"Will you go out with me?" asked Draco. How could he make it sound so casual with all those people staring at them? For Merlin's sake, Hermione would have sworn that she heard some of them holding their breaths, waiting for her to say something.

"Sure." She replied and beamed at Draco who grinned back at her. A chorus of Aww's and squeals was heard, coming from different parts of the Great Hall. Most people were taking it pretty well.

Hermione soon realized that she would probably have to deal with two furious best friends. Turning their way, she examined their expressions, waiting for the upcoming storm. Ginny was grinning but both boys wore identical funny looks on their faces. She felt Draco reach for her hand and give it a gentle squeeze. Hermione felt a bit less nervous.

Harry was the first one to overcome the state of shock. The storm that Hermione was expecting never came. Instead Harry burst out laughing.

"You two …dating…. I'd...like …..to …see…that!" he exclaimed in between of fits of laughter.

Hermione couldn't believe it. She was now staring at Harry who was trying to suppress his laughter. A lot of chuckles could be heard from all around them.

"Potter is okay." Said Draco, who was looking at Harry, much like Hermione. He seemed amused by Harry's laughing fit.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I am glad you approve of me, Malfoy."

"Don't get used to it, Potter."

In the meanwhile, Ron had recovered as well and was about to speak. Draco noticed this and snarled at him. "Watch it, Weasley!"

"Draco!" exclaimed Hermione, and nudged him.

"It is okay." Said Ron. "I am surprisingly okay with this. I suppose we should have seen it coming."

"You really should have." Commented Ginny. "It was pretty obvious."

"Soo obvious!" Blaise chipped in. He was now standing behind Draco, along with Pansy.

"Hey…" said Pansy hesitantly.

Ron groaned. "Do we really need to benfriend the Slytherins now that you are dating Malfoy?" he asked, turning to Hermione.

"We don't bite Weasley!" said Blaise, rolling his eyes.

"We will see about that..." said Ron, causing Ginny, Hermione, Draco, Blaise and Pansy to glare at him. Harry just started laughing again. "This is going to be so much fun!"

_It was definitely going to be fun._

**There you have it! This story is now finished! I feel so accomplished! (Lol) I was really nervous about this chapter, and I apologize if I disappointed you. I personally believe that it came out pretty decent. I would really appreciate it if you left a review! Tell me what you thought of his chapter or the story in general! Even if you haven't reviewed so far, do it this once. This is the last chapter after all.**

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	25. Epilogue

**Hello there! I have gotten an overwhelming amount of reviews (for me at least) ever since I posted the last chapter and some of you mentioned that an epilogue would be nice, so I thought I'd write one, since I've mean meaning to anyway! I want to thank you one last time for your reviews! Over 100! *faints* So, here goes…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

_**3 months later**_

Hermione made her way to her usual spot at the Gryffindor table, trying to ignore the familiar faces whose eyes were trained on her. Feeling self conscious, she slipped in her seat and met Ginny's eyes, which were eyeing her disapprovingly.

"You do realize that the scarf you are wearing is half green - half red, right?" she asked, her expression serious.

"Yes" sighed Hermione. "It was unavoidable."

"Hermione, it was okay to wear a green scarf when Slytherin was playing against Ravenclaw, but this is different! This match is something that Gryffindors have been looking forward to this entire year, and considering that you are a Gryffindor and your three best friends are members of the quidditch team, you are expected to be dressed in RED!"

"Hey! Don't get all riled up. It is a good compromise." Hermione protested.

"How is that true?" asked Ginny.

"It was either this or holding up a huge green sign." Said Hermione and noticing Ginny's still questioning eyes, she went on. "That had the phrase 'The Slytherin captain rocks my world" written on it!"

Ginny tried to suppress a giggle. "I see your point."

"Thank you!"

"Draco does realize that you are on Gryffindor's side though, doesn't he?"

"He does, but he is convinced that I bring him luck and that he deserves some support…"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "He has become kind of corny" she commented, and Hermione rolled her eyes , focusing on a sprinting Harry Potter.

Harry reached them, grabbed a croissant and turned to leave, while muttering. "Quickly…Got to run…Pitch..." That is when he noticed Hermione and nearly chocked.

"Seriously?" was all he asked.

"Yeap..."

Harry rolled his eyes and urged Ginny to hurry to the pitch, before walking away. Focusing on something behind her, he yelled. "Ready to get you ass kicked, Malfoy?" Despite his words, Harry was smiling.

"Bring it on, Potter!" came Draco's voice from right behind Hermione, just as his arms snaked around her waist. Her boyfriend and best friends would still call each other by their last names, even though they were on good terms. Old habits die hard.

Inhaling Draco's familiar scent. Hermione turned around to see him smiling at her. She scooted over, making room for him but he shook his head and settled for standing next to her.

"I have to go soon." He said.

"Right. Aren't you supposed to arrive at the Quidditch pitch first, in order to get the team together or something?", asked Hermione.

"Yes, I just came over for some moral support and by that I mean a good luck kiss" Draco said, smiling cheekily.

Hermione rolled her eyes before closing the distance between them. She was going for a peck but Draco thought otherwise, holding her tightly and deepening the kiss. Getting carried away, Hermione forgot that they were not alone and went along.

After a while, they were interrupted by Ginny clearing her throat. "That is enough PDA for one morning, don't you think?" she asked, even though it was clear that she found the situation amusing.

Draco, completely unaffected by the heads that were now turned their way, shrugged and kissed Hermione one last time softly, before standing up straight.

"I should get going!" He announced and Ginny decided to head to the pitch along with him. Hermione was soon left alone and decided to look for Pansy, since her friends were in the quidditch team as well. They could head down to the pitch together later.

On the way there, Pansy was practically skipping, going on about how great the Slytherin team was that year and how Blaise and Draco would do great. Hermione had to agree with her at most parts of her ever non ending rant. Draco really had managed to pull a great team together that year and no one doubted that Slytherin had many chances in winning the house cup against Gryffindor. Not that Gryffindor's quidditch team was to be underestimated of course.

Hermione took part in the conversation with Pansy and stated her opinion when it was necessary, trying to be objective. Honestly, she wasn't sure how she would react in Gryffindor losing against Slytherin, or Gryffindor being the winner. She was rooting for her house but she knew that Draco had put great effort into the Slytherin team this year in order for them to play the way they did.

Soon the match was starting and Draco was shaking hands with Harry. They both had threatening faces on and Hermione tried not to laugh, knowing that they had actually practiced these faces with each other, having played quidditch together many times during the past few months. Both Ron and Blaise appeared to be amused as well, while Ginny simply rolled her eyes. A couple of minutes later, the quaffle was in the air and the game was on.

The players were just blurs of green and red as the match progressed, and one could say that this was the most interesting game in the season, even without taking account that this was the final. The quaffle changed hands in fractions of seconds and goals would be scored from both sides.

Forty minutes into the game, the score was Gryffindor-80 Slytherin-70 and both Draco and Harry were high up in the air, their eyes roaming the place.

Hermione couldn't stand straight, the thrill of the game getting to her. She was commenting on the different phases with Pansy on one side and Neville on the other. It was kind of confusing since the two people standing next to her would jump up at the same time, the content of the words leaving their mouths completely different. Hermione didn't even know that Neville had such an extended vocabulary. After recovering from Neville's cheers and Pansy's grunts after a wonderful goal, scored by Ginny, Pansy's squeal caught her attention.

"Look!" she shouted and pointed up above.

Draco was diving towards the ground quickly, with Harry on his tail. Their eyes were both fixed on the same thing, and Hermione made out a glimpse of gold near the base of one of the Slytherin rings.

Draco was in the lead and even though Harry made everything possible in his powers to reach him, Draco's hand was soon wrapped steadily around the snitch and he looked at it for a couple of seconds, just enough for the crowd to realize what has happened and the sound of the whistle to be heard, before he lifted his hand up victoriously.

The Slytherin students erupted into cheers and the rest of the student body clapped as well, acknowledging a fair victory. Pansy soon left Hermione's side and run to meet Blaise. Hermione saw the Slytherin team gathering into a group hug and the players congratulating each other. Harry patted Draco's back and congratulated him as well, even though his disappointment was evident. The rest of the Gryffindor team looked blue and Ron could be seen in the back round flying around probably swearing.

Looking at the Gryffindor team and her disappointed classmates, Hermione's hearts sunk as well because of her house's defeat. It was the huge grin on Draco's face that made her realize that she could also be happy for him as well.

Not wasting any more time, she run to him, just to be enveloped in a tight hug. He was practically radiating happiness. It was the first time that Slytherin won the quidditch cup while he was in the school and the fact that it happened on the year that he was the team captain made Draco all the more pleased. His excitement was contagious and Hermione couldn't stop the smile that crept onto her lips, as Draco was spinning her around and chaos ensued around them.

Hermione caught sight of her friends smiling her way and knew that it was okay to be happy. Everything had been going smoothly these past few months. Great grades, loving family, supportive friends and an amazing boyfriend. There was nothing that she would change in her life at that moment.

"I told you that you are my good luck charm." Whispered Draco in her ear and she beamed at him. It went both ways really.

"Now I just have to make sure that I don't lose you."

"I don't think that will be a problem."

**It is not anything fancy but I like it! I hope you do too! Let me know!**

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